Szechuan Peppercorns in the Bay Area?

[hapacooking]

Does anyone know where I might find Szechuan peppercorns in the SF bay area? I tried Ranch 99 market and they didnt have any idea what I was talking about. Since the US lifted the ban of these last year, I thought they would be easy to find.

Thanks for any help

[hzrt8w]

Does anyone know where I might find Szechuan peppercorns in the SF bay area? I tried Ranch 99 market and they didnt have any idea what I was talking about.

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Really? Coincidentally I just shopped at 99 Ranch Market in Richmond yesterday. I saw a big pack of Sichuan peppercorns on the rack. But beware that they call it something other than "Sichuan peppercorn" in English on the package. Maybe it's a legacy reason - avoiding custom from checking during the ban? I am not sure.

In Chinese it is called:

花椒 (Pronounced as "Hua Jiao" [Mandarin], or "Fa Jill" [Cantonese])

In case you don't have Chinese fonts installed on your computer, here is an image of the 2 characters:

Print it and show it to the workers in 99 Ranch who know Chinese. They should be able to get it for you.

Edited November 14, 2005 by hzrt8w (log)

[hapacooking]

Thanks. I was pretty sure that the problem was that they didnt call them 'Szechuan peppercorns" but something else. I will head over there this morning with my printout. Thanks again.

Does anyone know where I might find Szechuan peppercorns in the SF bay area? I tried Ranch 99 market and they didnt have any idea what I was talking about.

←

Really? Coincidentally I just shopped at 99 Ranch Market in Richmond yesterday. I saw a big pack of Sichuan peppercorns on the rack. But beware that they call it something other than "Sichuan peppercorn" in English on the package. Maybe it's a legacy reason - avoiding custom from checking during the ban? I am not sure.

In Chinese it is called:

花椒 (Pronounced as "Hua Jiao" [Mandarin], or "Fa Jill" [Cantonese])

In case you don't have Chinese fonts installed on your computer, here is an image of the 2 characters:

Print it and show it to the workers in 99 Ranch who know Chinese. They should be able to get it for you.

←

[ScorchedPalate]

It might be called prickly ash berry, if that helps.

~A

[hapacooking]

Thanks to everyone who helped. Yes Ranch 99 had them. I showed the manager the chinese sybols and he took me right there. I said to the manager I think they are called "Szechuan Peppercorns" and he said no they are not peppercorns...

...on the outside of the package above "Hoa Tieu" its says "Dried Pepper Corn".

thanks again

[hzrt8w]

I said to the manager I think they are called "Szechuan Peppercorns" and he said no they are not peppercorns...

...on the outside of the package above "Hoa Tieu" its says "Dried Pepper Corn".

←

That's very funny. I am glad you can find it.

Edited November 16, 2005 by hzrt8w (log)

[dfunghi]

Now you got them what are you to do with them? They have a very interesting type of heat and a very specific flavor. I am curious how to use them at home.

We have a wonderful place here in LA called Yungai ( used to be Hua's) that uses them quite liberaly and I love them. They know when they see me come in to use "extra ma" is what our waitress always calls it.

[hapacooking]

I use the peppercorns for a few of my favorite szechuan dishes, Peppery-numb chicken, Tangerine peel chicken, Chile-pepper chicken, and a great stir-fried asparagus dish. Most of these dishes are variations upon the basic theme of dishes from Irene Kuo's book.

[CtznCane]

I recently had trouble finding them but then was told (by the owner of the Wok Shop) to get them from the herb store's in Chinatown. Bingo, that was the answer.

[MaxH]

Now you got  them what are you to do with them?

Something I posted in April on the local food newsgroup about a widely available cookbook that addresses that question.

--

One particular Chinese cookbook I have has some of the most rewarding spicy stews and similar dishes, some of which (like the simply named "red cooked beef with noodles") exquisitely use Szechuan peppercorns. (In that case, with lots of of scallions, ginger and whole garlic cloves.) This book has spoken for most of those peppercorns that I used in recent years. (Including when they were "banned," yet available by asking around.) The book seems to be an oral account, transcribed/translated by English speaking writers.

Schrecker and Schrecker, Mrs. Chiang's Szechwan Cookbook, Harper and Row, 1976, reissued 1987. ISBN 006015828X for the reissue. Readily available on the used market and probably some libraries. amazon.com currently lists 44 copies available, starting at $4.07 . A good value, in my opinion.

PS: The Chiang book includes a recipe for the tofu dish (spelled mapo doufu). Also, comments from Eugene Wu of the Harvard-Yenching Library who claims to've had the dish served when he was young, in Chengtu, by the famous pock-marked old lady herself, that the dish is named for. Quoted as review and recommendation:

"You ordered by weight, so many grams of bean curd and so many grams of meat, and your serving would be weighed out and cooked as you watched. It arrived at the table fresh, fragrant, and so spicy hot, or la, that it actually caused sweat to break out. Dr. Wu says that Mrs. Chiang's version of the dish rivals that of the famous old lady. It is just as rich, fragrant, and hot. / If we had to choose the quintessential Szechwanese dish, this spicy preparation of bean curd and chopped meat would probably be it. Its multiplicity of tastes and textures first stuns, then stimulates, the senses. ..." (The writers go on about the relation of the dish to Szechuan cooking traditions.)

[dfunghi]

I have that book in my library. I seldom try to cook from it because my skill at executing those dishes seems to fail me. Oso Buco, Bolognase, Roast pork, beef, chicken all I can do like a pro. Sezchuan fails me. Maybe I don't have hot enough wok? Or use enough garlic, or ginger? Anyway thanks fpr the tip I will dust off Mrs. Chiangs and see what I can do. I originally bought the book to make Dan Dan Noodles but they too never came out the way I hoped for.

[MaxH]

Try the meat dishes with Szechuan peppercorns, they're in a group near the red-cooked beef I mentioned. Which is a pretty simple stew with some stir-frying and a lot of green onions etc., yet it has that wonderful combination of citrus and bite from this unique spice, combined with other sound elements like garlic. I will make up that stew and serve it over plain noodles, and freeze portions and later reheat and drop them onto simple noodle soups with greens, as a topping. Soul-satisfying.