I have a recipe maybe I'll post sometime for a pseudo-Sichuan chicken with all the wrong (ie available at your local grocery) ingredients. It's actually not bad as a placeholder for some real Sichuan, but lately I've been wanting something a bit more [and I hate to use this word] authentic. Problem is, to make real Sichuan you need Sichuan ingredients.
The logical place to start seems to be Sichuan peppercorns. Unfotunately, there's some question about their status: eg according to this article, they're banned in the US thanks to a citrus parasite (it turns out Sichuan peppercorns have more genes in common with oranges than peppercorns). Per the article, I tried eBay, but no luck. And then the good folks at Penzey's told me this morning the things have recently been unbanned, but I can't find anything about this on the internet, and in any case Penzey's doesn't stock them. If anybody can enlighten me...
Tomorrow, Chinatown. I expect they'll have them there — although I'm not sure that will shed any light on whether they're legal or not...
Maybe, if it comes down to that... but I'd feel bad about implicating anyone else in a smuggling scheme!
I do seem to remember some snail smuggling in the early 90's...
That was my evil twin...
According to Robb Walsh, of Houston Press, "Last year, a heat treatment that eliminates canker-causing bacteria was approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Sichuan peppercorns once again became legal." http://www.houstonpress.com/Issues/2005-06-09/dining/cafe_1.html
Thanks for the info, Matthew!
Paul, let me know if you want me to send you some peppercors - I've discovered they carry them at my local supermarket!
As of September 2004 they are once again legal in the US as long as they have been heat treated, I found some searching for Szechuan Peppercorns (I know that spelling is awful, but that is what I found them listed under for order in the US).
As of September 2004 they are once again legal in the US as long as they have been heat treated, I found some searching for Szechuan Peppercorns (I know that spelling is awful, but that is what I found them listed under for order in the US).
According to this site, they have been banned but products bought before 2002 can be sold:
http://www.nobreakfast.com/archives/000041.html
There is also a UK site that sells it (www.seasonedpioneers.co.uk) if you want to have a friend in Europe order it for you. (wink, wink)