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The Secret to Sichuan

The Sichuan Peppercorn

Sichuan or Szechuan, we don’t talk politics here. The Sichuan (Aka “Szechuan”) peppercorn is a staple of many Sichuan recipes, known for a very distinct flavor. Oddly enough, it technically isn’t a peppercorn at all. The peppercorns are actually the dried seed husks of the prickly ash bush. According to Wikipedia, what we buy is actually one of a few species of “Zanthoxylum”.

The origins of the name is likely due to the fact that it kind of resembles a peppercorn at first glance. Despite the name, it isn’t hot like black pepper. It’s pungent and has a light citrus smell to it that, to me, almost resembles bergamot orange. The taste is great, but the best part about this stuff is the strange tingly numbing sensation on your lips and tongue after eating it. This tingly sensation is known as “Mala”. The numbing sensation prepares your taste buds to eat some seriously spicy food, allowing you to focus more on the flavors than the spice.

After a 30+ year FDA ban, imports of the Sichuan Peppercorn have been lifted and you can now get it at most Asian grocery stores in the spice aisle to help take your authentic Sichuan style cooking up to the next level.

This ingredient is essential for several of my Chinese Szechuan Style wonton sauce and my Kung Poa Chicken recipes. When cooking with it, you generally need to grind it, however some recipes call for leaving them whole. I like to lightly toast them first in a pan over low heat, then grind them in a mortar and pestle. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, you can use a pepper mill, a spice grinder, or even a clean blade style coffee grinder.

The Good Mong Kok Bakery in San Francisco’s China Town

Full disclosure, this visit predates the creation of Dumpling Digest, so the post is light on the photos. Its cool though, you’ll get over it as soon as you try the place.

The first thing I did when I arrived in San Francisco was check in at the hotel. The second thing I did was set out to find dumplings. After some extensive research, it was decided that the Good Mong Kok Bakery on 1039 Stockton Street was going to be our stop. You read that right. A BAKERY for dumplings.

Let’s just get it out there that this place is a hole in the wall. It’s also cash only, but everything is so cheap you can eat for well under $10. There was also a line out the door at 1:30 on a weekday, in which nobody was speaking English. A language barrier is usually a good sign that this place is the real deal.

First up, Chui Chow dumplings. These bad boys are huge and mighty tasty. For the dumpling plebeians, it’s literally a tiny portion of pork with mixed vegetables (Scallions and water chestnuts mostly) stuffed in a dumpling shell. Imagine “pork with mixed vegetables” in a convenient, starchy package. Absolutely ridiculous and a must try.

Good Mong Kok Bakery – Chui Chow Dumplings

Next, we have the shrimp dumplings. These guys were good and not overly fishy, but came in a thick, rubbery, translucent wrapper that I didn’t particularly like.

People rant and rave about their soy sauce chow mein, which is similar to a Lo Mein. I found these to be salty, dried out, and overall pretty lame. Definitely not worth the hype.

Good Mong Kok Bakery – Soy Sauce Chow Mein

Most regrettably, they were sold out of the steamed BBQ pork buns. These face-sized buns looked awesome and I’ll be revisiting them next time I’m in the Bay area.