SZECHUAN PEPPER is native to the Szechuan province of China and is the dried berry of the prickly ash. The aroma is warm, peppery and fragrant with distinct citrus notes. The flavour is pungent and biting with warm lemon overtones and produces a strange, numbing, anaesthetic feeling on the tongue.
Pungent Szechuan peppercorns mixed with salt for a roasted blend is very common. It can be used as a dip for Szechuan dishes or it is great rubbed onto pork or steak before cooking.
Here is a recipe for roasted Szechuan peppercorn salt: