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Redbird ([personal profile] redbird) wrote2009-08-28 09:44 pm
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Szechuan pepper

Since I can't eat capsicum-spiced food anymore, [livejournal.com profile] cattitude and I have been experimenting, in a low-key sort of way. One thing he wanted to try was Szechuan peppercorns, but it took a while to find them. We were on Canal Street last weekend and L wanted to show [livejournal.com profile] marykaykare and [livejournal.com profile] sneerpout a Chinese supermarket. Being a market, they had spices, which included big bags of these, so we got some.

This evening, Cattitude made his more-or-less-usual lentil stew: lentils, sausage or leftover cooked meat (in this case, chicken sausages), onions, carrots, cooked in chicken broth. He added a half dozen of the Szechuan peppercorns to the pot.

Conclusion: I think I like them, and they are entirely safe for me to eat. More experimentation is clearly in order. I don't think they will entirely replace the capsicum I can no longer eat, nor are they likely to displace ginger or even horseradish in my affections, but they may restore a bit of what I'm missing. But part of why they won't displace horseradish is that the shape/preparation is so different: horseradish is something I can smear on cold roast beef, and these are something that can be simmered in stew for an hour.
kiya: (snakie)

[personal profile] kiya 2009-08-29 11:07 pm (UTC)(link)
I've just chucked them in whole. Though seeing people comment on the toasting/grinding, I may try that next time. (I haven't done a cream sauce thing in a while because [livejournal.com profile] whispercricket was going lactose-free, but I think she's changed her mind on that somewhat lately.)