Sichuan pepper
Szechuan pepper
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Sapindales Family: Rutaceae Genus: Zanthoxylum
Species
Zanthoxylum piperitum Zanthoxylum sancho Zanthoxylum simulans Image File history File links Szechuan pepper (chin. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Divisions Green algae Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Hepatophyta - liverworts Anthocerophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants Adiantum pedatum... Classes Magnoliopsida - Dicots Liliopsida - Monocots The flowering plants (also angiosperms or Magnoliophyta) are one of the major groups of modern plants, comprising those that produce seeds in specialized reproductive organs called flowers, where the ovulary or carpel is enclosed. ... Orders see text Dicotyledons or dicots are flowering plants whose seed contains two embryonic leaves or cotyledons. ... Families See text The Sapindales is an order of flowering plants included among the rosid subgroup of dicotyledons. ... Genera About 160 genera; selected important genera: Amyris - West Indian Sandalwood Choisya - Mexican orange Citrus - Citrus Dictamnus - Burning-bush Fortunella - Kumquat Melicope - Corkwood, Alani Murraya - Curry tree Phellodendron - Cork-trees Poncirus - Trifoliate orange Ptelea - Hoptree Ruta - Rue Skimmia - Skimmia Tetradium (Euodia) - Euodias Zanthoxylum - Toothache trees Rutaceae is a family of... Species See text Zanthoxylum (from the Greek ξανθὸν ξύλον, yellow wood) is a genus of about 250 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae, native to warm temperate and subtropical areas worldwide. ...

The Sichuan peppercorn (Zanthoxylum piperitum, Zanthoxylum simulans, Zanthoxylum sancho and some other species in the genus Zanthoxylum) is not a member of the pepper family. It is the outer pod of the tiny fruit of a plant related to the pricklyash. Species See text Zanthoxylum (from the Greek ξανθὸν ξύλον, yellow wood) is a genus of about 250 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae, native to warm temperate and subtropical areas worldwide. ... Look up Pepper in Wiktionary, the free dictionary There are several completely different plants referred to by the name of pepper; most are used in food for the hot sensation that the chemical piperine or capsaicin induces on the tongue. ... Fruit stall in Barcelona, Spain. ... Divisions Green algae Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Hepatophyta - liverworts Anthocerophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants Adiantum pedatum... Prickly ash refers to two different species: Aralia spinosa and Zanthoxylum americanum. ...

It is known in Chinese as 花椒 huājiāo (faa¹jiu¹ in some dialects), literally "flower pepper"; a lesser-used name is 山椒 shānjiāo, "mountain pepper". In Japanese these same characters (山椒) are pronounced sanshō, which can also be written in kana as サンショウ. In Tibetan, it is known as emma. It is widely used in the cuisine of Sìchuān province, from which it takes its name (Sìchuān used to be spelt Szechuan). Japanese writing Kanji 漢字 Kana 仮名 Hiragana 平仮名 Katakana 片仮名 Uses Furigana 振り仮名 Okurigana 送り仮名 Romaji ローマ字 For other meanings of Kana, see Kana (disambiguation). ... The Tibetan language is typically classified as member of the Tibeto-Burman which in turn is thought by some to be a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. ... Sichuan (Chinese: 四川; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ssu-ch`uan; obsolete romanizations include Szechwan and Szechuan) is a province in central-western China with its capital at Chengdu. ...

Culinary uses

The taste of Sichuan peppercorns is not hot like black or red pepper, but is a kind of tingly numbness (caused by its 3% of hydroxy-alpha-sanshool) that sets the stage for these hot spices. Recipes often suggest lightly toasting and then crushing the tiny seedpods before adding them to food. It is generally added at the last moment. Star aniseed and ginger are often used with it and it figures prominently in spicy Szechuan cuisine. It is considered to go well with fish, duck and chicken dishes. Binomial name Pimpinella anisum L. Anise (Pimpinella anisum) is an herb in the family Apiaceae (formerly Umbelliferae) whose seed-like fruit (also called aniseed) is used in sweet baking as well as in anise-flavored liqueurs (e. ...

It is also available as an oil (marketed as either "Sichuan Pepper Oil" or "Hwajiaw Oil"). In this form it is best used in stir fry noodle dishes without hot spices. The preferred recipe includes ginger oil and brown sugar to be cooked with a base of noodles and vegetables, with rice vinegar and Szechuan pepper oil to be added after cooking.

花椒腌 (huājiāoyān) is a mixture of salt and Szechuan pepper, roasted and browned in a wok and served as a condiment to accompany chicken, duck and pork dishes. The peppercorns can also be lightly fried in order to make a spicy oil with various uses. In chemistry, salt is a general term used for ionic compounds composed of positively charged cations and negatively charged anions, so that the product is neutral and without a net charge. ... A wok on an electric stove The wok (from the Cantonese pronunciation wok6 of Chinese é‘Š (Simplified Chinese: 镬); Pinyin gÅ«o) is a versatile cooking utensil used especially in East Asia and Southeast Asia. ...

Sichuan pepper is one of the few spices important for Tibetan and Bhutani cookery of the Himalayas, because few spices can be grown there. The national dish of Tibet are momos, a pasta stuffed with yak and flavoured with Szechuan pepper, garlic, ginger and onion. The noodles are steamed and served dry, together with a fiery sauce. Tibetans believe it can sanitize meat that may not be so fresh. Tibet (Tibetan: བོད་, Bod, pronounced pö in Lhasa dialect; Chinese: 西藏, pinyin: Xīzàng) is a region and former independent country in Central Asia and the home of the Tibetan people. ... The Kingdom of Bhutan is a small, landlocked nation of South Asia, located in the Himalaya Mountains, sandwiched between India and the Peoples Republic of China. ... Binomial name Bos gruniens Linnaeus, 1766 Yak - n. ... Garlic (Allium sativum) is a bulbous perennial food plant of the family Alliaceae. ... Binomial name Zingiber officinale Roscoe Ginger root is used extensively as a spice in many if not most cuisines of the world. ... Binomial name Allium cepa L. Onion in the general sense can be used for any plant in the Genus Allium but used without qualifiers usually means Allium cepa L., also called the garden onion. ...

In Japan the dried and powdered leaves of Zanthoxylum sancho are used to make noodle dishes and soups mildly hot and fragrant. The whole leaves, 木の芽 kinome, are used to flavour vegetables, especially bamboo shoots, and to decorate soups. Genera Many, see text Bamboos are a group of woody perennial evergreen plants in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. ...

Sichuan peppercorns are one of the traditional ingredients in the Chinese spice mixture five-spice powder and also shichimi togarashi, a Japanese seven-flavour seasoning. Five-spice powder (五香粉, wǔxiāngfěn in hanyu pinyin) is a convenient seasoning for Chinese cuisine, particularly Cantonese cuisine. ...

Composition of various species

• Z. fagara (Central & Southern Africa, South America) — alkaloids, coumarins (Phytochemistry, 27, 3933, 1988)
• Z. simulans (Taiwan) — Mostly beta-myrcene, limonene, 1,8-cineole, Z-beat-ocimene (J. Agri. & Food Chem., 44, 1096, 1996)
• Z. armatum (Nepal) — linalohol (50%), limonene, methyl cinnamate, cineol
• Z. rhetsa — Sabinene, limonene, pinenes, para-cymene, terpinenes, 4-terpineol, alpha-terpineol. (Zeitschrift f. Lebensmitteluntersuchung und -forschung A, 206, 228, 1998)
• Z. sansho (Japan [leaves]) — citronellal, citronellol, Z-3-hexenal (Bioscience, Biotechnology and Biochemistry, 61, 491, 1997)
• Z. acanthopodium (Indonesia)

Africa is the worlds second-largest continent and 3rd most populous. ... Limonene is a hydrocarbon, classed as a terpene. ... citronellal or rhodinal or 3,7-dimethyl-6-octen-1-al (C10H18O) is is the main component in a mixture of terpene chemical compounds that can be derived from citronella oil. ...

Miscellanea

Until very recently there was a long-standing ban on the importation of this pepper. A couple of years ago the FDA banned the importation of Szechuan (Sichuan) Peppercorns because they were carrying a citrus canker virus. This virus could potentially harm the foliage of citrus crops in the U.S. It was never an issue of harm in human consumption. Recently the USDA and FDA have lifted the ban, provided the peppercorns are heated to around 160 degrees Fahrenheit (70 degrees Celsius) (which kills the canker virus) before importation.

The genus name Zanthoxylum or Xanthoxylum comes from the Greek ξανθὸν ξύλον, "yellow wood".

"Szechuan" or "Sìchuān" is pronounced approximately "sir-chwaan", with the tongue curled back to strongly pronounce the "r", as in an American accent.

It is possible to come across names such as "Szetchuan pepper", "Szechwan pepper", "Chinese pepper", "Japanese pepper", "Aniseed pepper", "Sprice pepper", "Fagara", "Sansho", "Nepal pepper", "Indonesian lemon pepper" and others, sometimes referring to specific species within this group, since this plant is not well known enough in the West to have an established name.

Note that there is also a true pepper (genus Piper) that grows in Sìchuān. They should not be confused. Species , black/white/green pepper , betel , cubeb , long pepper , kava , long pepper Piper is a plant genus including several species which produce items of economic importance, including black pepper, betel leaves, and kava. ...

External links and references

• Gernot Katzer's spice pages (full of information)