Szechwan Salt and Pepper Mix Recipe at MyDish

Szechwan Salt and Pepper Mix

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Method

  • Heat the ingredients in a frying pan over a medium to a medium-low heat, shaking the pan from time to time.
  • After about 10 minutes, the salt will begin to darken and the peppercorns will become aromatic, remove from the heat, and let cool.
  • Crush the mixture until it has the texture of salt (it will be a light pinkish colour). For best results, use a mortar and pestle or a rolling pin to crush the peppercorns you can of course do what we do and use an old coffee grinder that we keep for just such a purpose.
  • Store the salt and pepper mixture at room temperature.

    • Tips

    • Szechwan pepper is native to the Szechwan province of China. Though they bear some resemblance to black peppercorns, they are not actually of the pepper family, but the dried berry of a tree of the rue family. Several Zanthoxylum species grow throughout the temperate belt of China, Japan, the Himalayas, and North America. They all have similarities, being aromatic and used in herbal remedies. Szechwan pepper is still fairly uncommon in the West, so it may be helpful when looking for it to be familiar with some of the other common names and spellings for it:
      Szechwan peppercorns are rust coloured with hair-thin stems and open ends. The dried berries resemble tiny beechnuts measuring 4 - 5 mm in diameter. The rough skin splits open to reveal a brittle black seed, about 3 mm in diameter, however, the spice mainly consists of the empty husks. It is available whole or ground. In Japan, the leaves are used as spice, the ground dried leaves are known as sansho and the whole leaves, kinome, are fresh, vacuum-packed, or pickled.

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    Ingredients

    •  
    • YOU WILL NEED
    • ¼ cup sea salt
    • 2 tablespoons Szechwan peppercorns. see notes

    By Views 894  Added Sun Feb 28 2010


    A dry mix, the blend of pungent roasted Szechwan peppercorns and salt makes a superb mix that’s fantastic rubbed onto pork or steak before cooking.

     

    We also use this peppery blend as a dip for appetizers, to impart taste to deep-fried dishes, or just as an alternative for salt and pepper. Read More