Sichuan Pepper

The numbing, red or green fruits of East Asian prickly ash trees, also known as Chinese pepper; Szechwan pepper.

Overview

SICHUAN PEPPER is a culinary spice, cultivated for its pericarp. It is yielded from the plant Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim., a tree in the Rutaceae family, growing in temperate biome, with a native range of Himalaya to China.¹

It is used primarily in meats; colic. Its aroma is described as woodsy, peppery, with a heat index of 3.²

See more in ( Citation: POWO, 2024 POWO (2024). Plants of the world online. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved from http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/ ; Citation: Wyk, 2014 Wyk, B. (2014). Culinary herbs and spices of the world. University of Chicago Press, joint publication with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ; Citation: Dalby, 2000 Dalby, A. (2000). Dangerous tastes: the story of spices. University of California Press. ; Citation: Hill, 2004 Hill, T. (2004). The contemporary encyclopedia of herbs and spices: Seasonings for the global kitchen. J. Wiley. )

Distribution

Native and introduced habitats of Zanthoxylum bungeanum³

Native areas:       China South-Central, Inner Mongolia, Manchuria, China North-Central, Qinghai, China Southeast, Tibet, Xinjiang, East Himalaya, Nepal

Introduced areas: Uzbekistan

Bibliography