Sichuan peppercorns, new research

[Guest realmayo]

I love these things & just read an article about them, although it may not be of interest to many!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2418592/So-thats-lips-tingle-eat-chillis-Peppers-activate-parts-brain-respond-TOUCH.html?ico=sciencetech^headlines

Called sanshool, it is found in Sichuan peppers and can access parts of the lips that connect to the area of the brain associated with touch.

...

The authors compare this to the same feeling created by touching a live electrical current.

Learned a new word too, sanshool: from wikipedia:

The term sanshool in the compound's name is derived from the Japanese term for the Sichuan pepper, sanshō (山椒) (literally, Mountain Pepper), to which was appended the suffix -ol, indicating a chemical alcohol.

Stimulating stuff eh?

[jkduck]

SiChuan dishes are very famous and delicious, which is one of the eight famous dishes in China.

[WestTexas]

I'm a little confused. The article says that Zanthoxylum piperitum is the Sichuan pepper and is also known as 山椒 in Japanese. But it seems that this is actually a slightly different species. The 花椒/Sichuan pepper (we are talking about 花椒, right?) is Pericarpium Zanthoxyli. Or not? Shouldn't the species be lowercase? Ah, now I see that apparently a few different species are used as 花椒.

Interesting article, though. I wondered why it gave that tingling feeling. I particularly like the oil with 花椒 used to flavor cold dishes, such as 干豆腐丝 or 金针莫.

[Guest realmayo]

First, the article comes from the Daily Mail so don't expect lashings of accuracy.

Second, the #2 comment is so perfect!

[abcdefg]

Ah, now I see that apparently a few different species are used as 花椒.

I think that is one of the keys to why they sometimes come across differently in different dishes. The other key is that they are sometimes used green instead of dried, great clusters of them.

Agree with @WestTexas about liking the oil. I sometimes even use it in making cucumber salad. Strange but refreshing during the Summer months.

[Touchstone57]

That is interesting!

My wife is Sichaunese so I've had the joy of Sichaunese food, which is very good in proportion. However I have had the misfortune to have a week of intense Sichuanese feasting, which destroy will destroy you insides and your taste bud.

At home (in the UK) I always thought I could handle very spicy food, such as Indian or Mexican style, but Sichaunese food has a different sensation all together, which you can definately feel in the back of your throat rather than your tongue, and I definately find it harder to handle. My wifes relatives all love copius amounts however, together with lots of bai jiu!

[langxia]

@abcdefg but that is not the pepper they are talking about! The one they are talking about is the 麻椒

I put some in a pepper mill and started to put it on everything lately

[abcdefg]

#7 --

but that is not the pepper they are talking about! The one they are talking about is the 麻椒

Yes, I understand that the dried peppercorns are the main form in which this spice is used, not as an oil. But aren't they called 花椒 instead of 麻椒？

[Michaelyus]

Research on hydroxy-a-sanshool and touch receptors has been going for quite some time... see 10.1038/nn.2143 for one of the earlier ones. It's the connection to mechanical vibration, and of a specific frequency of 50 Hz, which pinpoints RA-1 fibres (I don't know enough to differentiate whether they are referring to the mechanoreceptor's protein channel or to its neural pathway: I can't access the paper itself), that makes this study rather interesting.

Original paper: 10.1098/rspb.2013.1680. ScienceDaily version: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130910205326.htm

Of course, with sanshool relating to channel adaptation, there must be hints of pain relief research.

[Michaelyus]

I'm a little confused. The article says that Zanthoxylum piperitum is the Sichuan pepper and is also known as 山椒 in Japanese. But it seems that this is actually a slightly different species. The 花椒/Sichuan pepper (we are talking about 花椒, right?) is Pericarpium Zanthoxyli. Or not? Shouldn't the species be lowercase? Ah, now I see that apparently a few different species are used as 花椒.

Standard TCM-speak. Pericarpium = Latin for the pericarp, equivalent to the peel of the pod/husk (in this case at least). Not the genus name, which is Zanthoxylum, which is very a typical scientific "Latinisation" of a Greek compound (the form ending in -i is the genitive case, which is again conventional in TCM-speak).

but that is not the pepper they are talking about! The one they are talking about is the 麻椒

Yes, I understand that the dried peppercorns are the main form in which this spice is used, not as an oil. But aren't they called 花椒 instead of 麻椒？

I don't know whether the researchers used a mix of Sichuan pepper cultivars, or whether it was just one (or indeed whether it was the Sichuan pepper down at the local supermarket), but I think 麻椒 is considered to be a darker variety of any of various 花椒 species, not a separate species. See http://flora.huh.har...F-11-UFT8-H.txt for all the 学名. One source points to Z. calcicola as the one to merit 麻椒, but I'm not that sure about how it assigns these.

[abcdefg]

...but I think 麻椒 is considered to be a darker variety of any of various 花椒 species, not a separate species.

Let me ask a little more about this, if I may. My main interest is not in the medicinal properties of these peppercorn seed pods, though that sounds like a promising field for research, but rather their use in cooking, particularly in preparing Sichuan food 四川菜。

When I look for recipes or pictures of dishes using 麻椒 and then do the same using 花椒 as the search term, it seems that 花椒 mainly yields recipes using clusters of the green peppers, often still on their stems like a bunch of grapes, whereas 麻椒 only turns up recipes that call for using so many grams of the dark dried peppercorns. Some of the "green" 花椒 have a pink tint.

I had previously assumed, though it may have been erroneous, that these were just two forms of the same thing (one fresh, one dried.) When I buy 花椒 in the market, I am offered either the clusters of green peppercorns still attached to the branch, or the darker dried ones that can be used whole, crushed, or ground. Must admit that I've never specifically asked for 麻椒。

The scholarly article to which you provided a link has nomenclature information about 花椒, they all seem to be some type of Zanthoxylum, but I couldn't find mention of 麻椒。

Can you, or anyone else, kindly elucidate the situation with regard to using these terms (花椒 and 麻椒) in Chinese cooking. I've enjoyed both forms many times in Sichuan, in addition to finding and using them here in Kunming. In Chengdu, I'm always amazed that the green ones don't overpower and ruin an otherwise light fish dish; instead they enhance it in some mysterious way.