Szechuan Peppercorns

A few months back there was a food festival here in Kelantan hosted by Cheng Ho International and the Kelantan government. I went there with high expectations but to my disappointment it wasn't as good as I expected. But something caught my eye: these little peppercorns, a small packet of dark reddish brown peppercorns.

I have heard and seen many photographs of these peppercorns known as Sichuan or Szechuan peppercorns so I bought a little packet to try.

It's got a lovely lemony smell, not the usual peppery smell of black peppercorns. When you take a little peppercorn and chew it you don't get the usual pepper taste, but after about 10 seconds you get this rather strange tingly sensation at the tip of your tongue.

I have seen many times on Kylie Kwong's recipes that she dry roasts the peppercorns with salt, grind them, and uses them to season food.

Am going to try it soon, will keep you posted. :) so for now, you can check out more about Szechuan peppercorns here