标题: Sichuan pepper 花椒 [打印本页] 作者: choi 时间: 3-18-2013 15:09 标题: Sichuan pepper 花椒 Andrea Nguyen, Lust for Spice; Tongue-tingling Sichuan peppercorn is so addictive, you'll find yourself coming up with all kinds of excuses to use it. Wall Street Journal, Mar 16, 2013 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB ... 46982867176960.html
("The zingy husks are used in China, where the spice is called hua jiao ("flower pepper"), while Japanese cuisine favors the pod's milder berries, known as sansho")
My comment:
(a) I have doubt about the veracity of the quotation above. See (e) below.
peppercorn (n): "a dried berry of the black pepper" http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/peppercorn
(b) To learn definitions of peppercorn and berry (in pepper), it is important to compare
black pepper http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_pepper
(Piper nigrum; a flowering vine; native to south India; black pepper is produced from the still-green unripe drupes [sic; should be "berries]; white pepper consists of the seed of the pepper plant alone [by soaking] fully ripe red pepper berries [] in water for about a week [to remove the flesh of the berry])
(c) Sichuan pepper http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sichuan_pepper
(at least two species of the global genus Zanthoxylum, including Z simulans and Z bungeanum; The husk or hull (pericarp) around the seeds may be used whole, especially in Szechuan cuisine, and the finely ground powder is one of the blended ingredients for the five-spice powder)
section 2 Cuilinary uses: "Only the husks are used; the shiny black seeds are discarded or ignored as they have a very gritty sand-like texture. It is generally added at the last moment. * * * Ma la (Chinese: 麻辣; pinyin: málà; literally "numbing and spicy"), common in Sichuan cooking, is a combination of Sichuan pepper and chili pepper."
(d) In the preceding Wiki page, click either Z simulans or Z bungeanum leads to Z simulans. Some wenb pages hints these two are the same species. But they are TWO distinct species.
Sichuan peppercorn "is produced from the dried fruit of several different species of Zanthoxylum, also known as the prickly ashes. The most common sources are Z bungeanum and Z simulans (formerly considered varieties of the same species), and Z piperitum is used for similar culinary purposes in Japan.
"in midsummer Z simulans is covered with a greenish white haze of small flowers, followed by a prolific display of small, round follicles (a type of dehiscent fruit). At maturity these fruits turn a pinkishbronze color and split open, spitting out the seeds. The dried follicle is the culinary product, Sichuan pepper.
(i) Page 32 is the back cover actually.
(ii)
(A) For dehiscent (adj), see dehiscence (n):
"an act or instance of dehiscing"
(B) dehisce (vi; Latin dehiscere to split open, from de- + hiscere to gape):
"to split along a natural line" http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dehisce
(iii) Arnold Arboretum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Arboretum
(of Harvard University; founded in 1872 when the President and Fellows of Harvard College became trustees of a portion of the estate of [a New Bedford, Massachusetts whaling merchant] James Arnold (1781–1868))
(iii) Mr Damery stated, "New Amsterdam, the Dutch colonial settlement on Manhattan Island, became New York in an island trade essentially pertaining to nutmeg."
(A) New Amsterdam http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Amsterdam
(capital city of New Netherland (1614-1664); The 1625 date of the founding [by Dutch] New Amsterdam is now commemorated in the official Seal of New York City; section 1.4 English capture)
Please take notice that Dutch won the Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665-1667) "decisive[ly]," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Anglo-Dutch_War
so Dutch must gave valued nutmeg more than New Netherlands.
(B) Run (island) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Run_(island)
(In the 17th century, Run was of great economic importance because of the value of the spices nutmeg and mace which are obtained from the nutmeg tree (Myristica fragans), once found exclusively in the Banda Islands)
(iv) For 山椒, see サンショウ (which is katakana for 山椒) http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3 ... 7%E3%83%A7%E3%82%A6
(Zanthoxylum piperitum; section 4.1.1 食用: 未熟な果実 + 果皮)
It is clear that Japanese uses another species of the same genus (which is no big deal) and that Japanese also use pericarp, rather than the seed, of the fruit when ripe (thay may use teh entire fruit when UNRIPE).
(f) In the recipe of "Dan Dan Noodles," "ya cai" is mentioned.
Dandan Noodles http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dandan_noodles
(It consists of a spicy sauce containing preserved vegetables (often including zha cai, 榨菜, lower enlarged mustard stems, or ya cai, 芽菜, upper mustard stems), chili oil, Sichuan pepper, minced pork, and scallions served over noodles)
(g) The recipe of "Chili-Sichuan Peppercorn Mix" includes one ingredient: "3 tablespoons gochu garu (Korean red pepper powder)."