What's this
What is the Pepe Sichuan
Sichuan pepper is a spice native to Asia but widely used also in the West.
Insight:
Sichuan pepper - whose spice, as we shall see, can be derived from several botanical species - is called by various names. The most commonly used Italian synonyms are fiore del pepe and Chinese pepper; in English it is known as: Sichuan pepper, Sichuan peppercorn or Szechuan pepper. In the rest of Europe it can be identified as a fagara.
"Sichuan" is the name of the Chinese region in which, traditionally, much of the world spice production is cultivated and consumed. Large quantities of Sichuan pepper are also consumed in India, Korea, Thailand, Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan and Japan.
"Pepe" is on the other hand a misnomer since, from the botanical point of view, that of Sichuan is a shrub of the Rutaceae Family and Genus Zanthoxylum - to learn more about the species read under the paragraph on botany. The pepper itself - the spice plant black pepper, white pepper and green pepper - is part of the Piperaceae family, Genus Piper and nigrum species. In addition, while the traditional fruits are consumed entirely - at the limit, deprived of the pericarp - of the Sichuan pepper, the outer shells are ground and roasted - the seed is discarded. Note : Flowers and leaves are spices in their own right.
In the kitchen it is used as the traditional pepper with respect to which it is distinguished by a pleasant but not too intense lemon flavor, and by the characteristic sensation of "numbness". An aromatic oil can be derived from the drug, which is also widely used in the kitchen.
Sichuan pepper is also used in traditional Chinese medicine - especially pericarp, but in some cases also leaves and flowers. The timur - Nepalese name - is a remedy for various stomach problems or digestion, mixed with garlic cloves and mountain salt in warm water.
Kitchen
Gastronomic use of Sichuan pepper
The Sichuan pepper is constituted, as we have already said, from the external wrapping of the fruits produced by some shrubs of the Genus Zanthoxylum . It is a spicy spice characterized by hints of lemon and which leaves a typical sensation of numbness. Although the chemical, organoleptic and taste characteristics of the various species of the Genus Zanthoxylum can vary significantly, most share the same essential properties - Z. simulans and Z. piperitum are often, but erroneously, used as synonyms. Sichuan pepper is consumed mainly whole while abroad it is ground into powder; for certain recipes it is recommended to toast the drug before adding it to the finished food.
Sometimes accompanied by garlic, ginger - fresh or dried - or star anise, Sichuan pepper is used to flavor various fishery products, meat - avian such as chicken, duck and pork - vegetables - onion, aubergine, etc. The many types of Sichuan pepper appear in the kitchen of: China, Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, Thailand, Korea, India (the Konkani and Uttarakhandi people), Japan and the Toba Batak peoples.
In Bhutan, Sichuan pepper proper is known as a thingye and is used in the preparation of soups, gruel and phaag sha paa (slices of pork). In Nepal, the timur is used in the popular foods momo, thukpa, chow mein, spicy chicken and other meat dishes. It is also widely used in recipes for homemade pickles.
From the Sichuan pepper it is possible to obtain an aromatic oil typically used for the famous Chinese recipe of fried tagliolini, together with cane sugar and rice vinegar. The shells of the berries are not the only edible portion of the Zanthoxylum plant; in Japan leaves are also used, called kinomes, especially to enrich recipes of vegetable origin - bamboo shoots, tofu soups etc. The male flowers, also edible, are marketed in the Japanese territory with the name of hana-sanshō.
Composite spices are also formulated with Sichuan pepper; the main ones are: málà and hua jiao yan (Chinese), and Japanese shichimi. A Beijing brewery uses Sichuan pepper and honey to flavor a particular beer.
Composition
Phytochemical composition of Sichuan pepper
The most well-known and studied chemical factor of Sichuan pepper is called hydroxy-alpha sanshool, contained in a proportion of 3% in the drug, responsible for the known tingling, anesthetic and slightly paralyzing sensation, similar to the effect of carbonated drinks or a slight shock electricity. The sanshool seems to act simultaneously on different types of nerve endings, perhaps causing a sort of "general neurological confusion".
Among the most important aromatic compounds, recognized in various species of Zanthoxylum, we mention:
- Z. fagara (central and southern Africa, South America) - alkaloids, coumarins (Phytochemistry, 27, 3933, 1988)
- Z. simulans (Taiwan) - beta-myrcene, limonene, 1, 8-cineol, Z-beta-ocimene (J. Agri. & Food Chem., 44, 1096, 1996)
- Z. armatum (Nepal) - linalool (50%), limonene, methyl cinnamate, cineol
- Z. rhetsa (India) - sabinene, limonene, pinenes, para-cymene, terpinenes, 4-terpineol, alpha-terpineol. (Zeitschrift f. Lebensmitteluntersuchung und -forschung A, 206, 228, 1998)
- Z. piperitum (Japan [leaves]) - citronellal, citronellol, Z-3-hexenal (Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry, 61, 491, 1997)
- Z. acanthopodium (Indonesia) - citronellal, limonene.
Medicine
Medical use of Sichuan pepper
In China the shells of the fruits of the genus Zanthoxylum are widely used for therapeutic purposes. In traditional Chinese medicine it finds uses similar to hua jiao, for example in the treatment of gastric or digestive disorders - such as dyspepsia.
Botany
Elements of Sichuan pepper botany
The term Sichuan pepper refers to two shrubs - small trees - deciduous and spiny belonging to the Rutaceae family (the same as citrus and rue), Genus Zanthoxylum, simulans and bungeanum species.
Many think instead that the botanical species of Sichuan pepper is the piperitum, to which other species and related varieties very used especially in Japan are correlated - Z. schinifolium and Z. armatum var. subtrifoliatum ; this is a common mistake, due to the fact that the fruits of the various plants are apparently very similar to each other.
The genus Zanthoxylum from which the Sichuan pepper is obtained grows spontaneously in most of Asia - with the due differences related to the species. Other species, less related to the Sichuan pepper spice, are also found in Africa and South America.
Curiosity:
Sichuan pepper, like the closely related Z. piperitum, Z. schinifolium and Z. armatum var. subtrifoliatum, home to several species of Japanese indigenous butterflies, including the common Papilio xuthus .
Description
Description of the Sichuan pepper plant
Sichuan pepper trees mainly flower in spring, from April to May, forming clusters of axillary flowers - especially yellow-green and 5 mm large.
It is a dioecious shrub; the flowers of the male plant of the species piperitum and related are consumed with the name of hana-sanshō, while the female flowers evolve in the known berries of the average diameter of 5 mm. In autumn, from September to October, the fruits become scarlet red and burst, releasing the black seeds enclosed inside.
The branches of Z. schinifolium produce pairs of sharp spines - except for the variety without thorns - and show leaves with slightly serrated margins, alternately placed.
