[HN Gopher] Brazil's answer to the Sichuan pepper
___________________________________________________________________
Brazil's answer to the Sichuan pepper
Author : Stratoscope
Score : 140 points
Date : 2022-07-15 06:51 UTC (16 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.bbc.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.bbc.com)
| zzbzq wrote:
| Anybody tasted it? Sichuan pepper doesn't just give a tingling
| feeling, it also tastes really good. Curious if this does, too.
| showerst wrote:
| These don't taste great on their own (kinda grassy) but they
| give a more intense pins & needles feeling.
|
| They're much stronger than any sane amount of Sichuan pepper --
| but shorter lasting, and they change food's flavor in a
| slightly different way. I can't quite describe how, as I've
| only had them with a specific cocktail at Mcclellans Retreat in
| DC.
|
| I'd recommend it if you're ever nearby, cool drink and it's
| also a great neighborhood cocktail bar.
| wawjgreen wrote:
| Yes it can be ground into a powder and you can cook it
| alongside any meat dish--it gives the dish a nice, underground-
| ish taste.
| TheCowboy wrote:
| If people are interested in trying something different, they also
| mention cachaca. Sometimes called "Brazilian rum" which is a bit
| inaccurate. It's getting easier to find, but it's still best to
| avoid the cheap versions (such as the 51 brand which is
| terrible). Look for restaurants serving a cocktail called a
| caipirinha, which is the national drink of Brazil, as the best
| intro.
| dedemenezes wrote:
| IG_Semmelweiss wrote:
| Visiting the deep amazon during COVID, I literally ate too much
| stuff (one of those nice, AYCA amazon lodges). Every date, I
| mixed all kinds of delicious things in a buffett setting, and
| constantly loaded with carbs. It was vacation, after all.
|
| I normally do intermittent fasting and stay away from carbs
| during the work week. I don't do buffet and usually don't have 2
| daily meals, let alone 3.
|
| So, after 2-3 days of repeating the feast -3 times a day-, my
| stomach and intestines finally went on strike. I ended up with a
| strong reaction with a loose stool. 2 days later, it would still
| not go away. It was constant. I was chained to the bathroom. The
| rest of the family didn't overeat + mix everything, so naturally
| they were totally fine.
|
| Finally on the 3rd day, I gave up on waiting it out and asked for
| help from our jungle guide.
|
| He told me to have oregano tea, so had 2 cups. The change was
| instantaneous. Just like the article, all the locals from the
| amazon knew this was the standard remedy for diarrhea.
|
| I googled this afterwards. None of the top hits for home remedy
| for diarrhea even mentioned oregano tea once in their articles. A
| medical dietitian had a 1 word link back to diarrhea in a
| "oregano health benefits" article [1].
|
| Its crazy how ignorant we are of natural methods, and makes me
| wonder what other wonderful natural medicines are waiting to be
| re-discovered in the amazon.
|
| [1] https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/266259
| cwkoss wrote:
| It's amazing how little we know about the benefits of plants
| that cannot be easily monopolized.
| silicon2401 wrote:
| Do you have a recipe for that oregano tea?
| IG_Semmelweiss wrote:
| its simpler than you think.
|
| Fill a 1/3 cup with oregano leaves. Dump hot water. That's
| all it takes.
|
| I had 2 cups! (i was desperate lol)
| silicon2401 wrote:
| Thanks, just wasn't sure how much oregano should be in
| there. Glad it worked for you lol, in those circumstances
| any relief is a real godsend
| marcodiego wrote:
| I'm Brazillian and lived in Rondonia, extreme west of the
| Amazon. Never heard about oregano tea being good for the
| intestines, will try it if I ever need again.
|
| Now, don't put so much trust on the "knowledge of the natives".
| That knowledge is not maintained by centuries because native
| indians didn't develop writing, so recipes vary a lot even from
| one city to another; there are different fruits or plants which
| have the same name in different regions and the same fruit or
| plant may have different names in different regions. It is also
| not tested with a large genetic pool since these groups are
| very small, familiar with little genetic diversity.
| kaycebasques wrote:
| Where did you go in the Amazon and how did you get there? I was
| surprised to learn that not many Brazilians have ever been to
| the Amazon. But it makes sense once you realize that it's hard
| to get there and it takes a long time.
| d0100 wrote:
| There isn't much to do there if you aren't a fan of raw
| wilderness and extreme heat
|
| Brazil has too many nice vacation places and the Amazon isn't
| it
| marcodiego wrote:
| > There isn't much to do there if you aren't a fan of raw
| wilderness and extreme heat
|
| Mostly this. If you want to see exotic animals, you'll be
| probably more comfortable on a Zoo. Favorite touristic
| points of Brazil seems to be northeast beach or coldest
| parts of the south. I was in vacation in Florianopolis, a
| capital city in the south, in 2019 and every time I said I
| was from the northeast they asked me: "and why are you
| wasting your vacation here?"
| Sporktacular wrote:
| I imagine it would be interesting to learn about and get to
| know some of the tribal people.
| SPascareli13 wrote:
| I came from Amazonas, a Brazilian state which contains most
| of the Brazilian Amazon. And yes not many Brazilians know the
| Amazon, most probably live as far from the Amazon as US is
| (Brazil is really big!).
| InitialLastName wrote:
| It's wild how close this is to true, but by my measurement
| the shortest distance between the US mainland (so not
| counting Puerto Rico) and the nearest point I can see in
| the Amazon [white outline in 0, for lack of a better
| reference] is ~1,650 miles, and there is nowhere in Brazil
| that is more than 1600 miles.
|
| [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_rainforest#/media/F
| ile:...
| IG_Semmelweiss wrote:
| I was in Ecuador, actually.
|
| You can get to the Amazon from Quito with a 5 hour drive that
| is very pleasant. Then the road ends and you take a boat that
| can be anything from 30mins to several hours, depending how
| deep into the jungle you are going.
|
| Once there, there's tons to do. Floating in an amazon
| tributary river -with no sound other than the occasional
| bird- and closing my eyes was one of the most incredible zen
| moments in my life. Could have stayed hours. That week went
| by too fast.
|
| Regarding your brazil experience - doesn't seem uncommon.
| I've asked Peruvians, Ecuadoreans, Brazilians etc if they
| have gone to the Amazon. The answer is no.
|
| Its not dissimilar to the experience you would get in the US
| if you asked someone if they have been to Mt Rushmore,
| Florida Keys, Grand Canyon, or even Yellowstone. Its far, and
| mostly out of reach for most americans (and we are far
| wealthier than our southern neighbors).
|
| Also, I get a sense that touristic developments deep in South
| America wilderness tend to cater to foreign tourists. Such
| prices may be out of reach for most upper class locals. This
| is different from most US landmarks, which seem to cater
| primarily to middle class Americans (anecdata).
| Qem wrote:
| Visiting the Amazon is a 2000-3000 km trip from most large
| cities in the country, fuel prices and plane tickets are
| awfully expensive right now, and for most history, so it's a
| trip that would cost multiple times the minimum wage in
| Brazil. So it's not that surprising most people in the
| country din't ever visit there, unless they were already born
| close to it. Also, the most easily reachable parts are
| already very degraded. Roads spell doom to the forest.
| Pristine forest is far from the areas with affordable
| amenities that would please most tourists. In the brief time
| period air travel became more affordable, in the Lula-Dilma
| government terms, most people that could travel skipped
| domestic tourism and went straight into international travel,
| as from large cities like Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro a
| plane ticket to Argentina, Chile, or even Europe used to be
| very often cheaper than a ticket to, say, Manaus.
| dlisboa wrote:
| > Also, the most easily reachable parts are already very
| degraded. Roads spell doom to the forest. Pristine forest
| is far from the areas with affordable amenities that would
| please most tourists.
|
| That's not really correct in my experience. You can find
| "deep wilderness" in about 30-40 minutes from the city of
| Manaus (by boat), as in places with no human activity at
| all. And Manaus is very reachable (actually what people
| consider "the Amazon").
|
| The city doesn't sprawl too far, and you have deforestation
| along the roads, but it's quite impressive how the "deep"
| jungle starts just after the last man-made structure. There
| are more areas of uninterrupted forest than in any other
| region probably in the world. And I visited in 2020, not
| really long ago.
|
| I'm Brazilian and I didn't really expect that, knowing our
| bad track record of deforestation. I thought the "real"
| jungle would be much further away. Coming from the
| Southeast of Brazil I can see the difference, and I'd call
| forests in this region definitely degraded. But up there
| it's as close to pristine as it gets with human
| involvement. The tragedy is that it's not for long.
| jcmoscon wrote:
| Read about Copaiba oil. It's a Brazilian oil from a tree. This
| thing is amazing. I used to always have earache after a couple
| of days diving in the ocean until I used one little drop of
| Copaiba oil in my ears. No more earache. Never again! It has
| multiple uses. Take a look at it.
| mmanfrin wrote:
| This title is a little weird considering that these are sometimes
| called sichuan buttons:
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acmella_oleracea
| tambourine_man wrote:
| You might want to listen to this song while you taste it. Its
| lyrics are a homage to Jambu:
|
| https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ETqUAfnN47M
| kaycebasques wrote:
| Liniker also has a reference to jambu but it's only a passing
| reference and not the main theme:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bVTGFkayqw
| tambourine_man wrote:
| Nice to see Liniker being recognized outside of Brazil
| Kaze404 wrote:
| I saw her live a few weeks ago on her latest tour and
| wow... Her performance is absolutely breathtaking. To any
| bystander reading this, if you ever have the opportunity
| it's a must.
| Nihilartikel wrote:
| I was a bit obsessed with Sichuan peppercorns a few years back..
|
| If one wants to have a good introduction to them, Huang Fei Hong
| Spicy Peanuts are on Amazon and many asian grocers.. they
| consistently have fresh and numbing pods mixed in.
|
| I've never got good numbing Sichuan peppercorns retail in the US,
| but have gotten some really strong ones off of Amazon.
| ryangittins wrote:
| I once had these in a speakeasy in downtown Louisville, KY with a
| cocktail called "Acid Cat Spirit Guide." We ordered a round of
| them and all the guy said was, "eat the flower and drink the
| drink."
|
| It was a pretty fun experience! The flower itself does not taste
| good--very grassy with an unpleasant texture--but the numbing
| effect was really fun, especially experienced as group.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acmella_oleracea
| showerst wrote:
| Mcclellans Retreat in DC also does a cocktail with them. Cool
| to see that's a trend.
| kolencherry wrote:
| Ah! Acmella oleracea -- also known as a Szechuan Button.
| Chandelier Bar at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas famously does an
| off-menu cocktail with Jambu called The Verbena.
| twalla wrote:
| Minor nit: Sichuan pepper is not a chili pepper or closely
| related to black pepper. It's the husk of the fruit of a tree
| that grows in the region. It's not particularly spicy on its own
| - the appeal is the numbing, tingling sensation (called mala,
| literally numbing spiciness) which serves as a complement to the
| capsaicin-based spiciness that Sichuanese cuisine is known for.
| silicon2401 wrote:
| Thanks for explaining that. I always wondered how sichuan
| pepper could cause such a different reaction to regular black
| or chili pepper, and now it makes sense
| lofatdairy wrote:
| Even more minor nit: ma2la4 is actually the combination of
| flavors of both numbness (ma2, Ma ) and spiciness (la4, La ).
| The latter is commonly used outside the combined descriptor to
| signify normal capsaicin spice in food.
|
| Off topic, but the "ma" in mapo tofu also uses same character
| from ma2la4, but also serves to give a visual description of
| the dish. That character is also used to refer to a pockmarked
| person, and the po2 is from one of the various ways to refer to
| grandmother. You could probably go as far to say it's something
| of a pun.
| thaumasiotes wrote:
| > spiciness (la4, La ). The latter is commonly used outside
| the combined descriptor to signify normal capsaicin spice in
| food.
|
| True, but it isn't restricted to that; it also describes the
| taste of garlic.
|
| (Whereas in English, I would never describe garlic or onions
| as "hot". If I needed a descriptor, I'd call them "sharp".)
| rrrrrrrrrrrryan wrote:
| Garlic has a different chemical in it (allicin), but it
| hits the same receptors as capsaicin. If you've ever tasted
| a chimichurri with a ton of raw garlic before it's had a
| chance to mellow out in the oil, you'll attest that garlic
| can indeed be spicy.
|
| Here are the main chemicals that are usually described as
| spicy - they all use the same mechanism to create a "heat"
| sensation, with the exception of the Sichuan peppercorns:
|
| - Chile Peppers: Capsaicin
|
| - Onions/Garlic: Allicin and Pyruvic Acid
|
| - Ginger: Gingerol
|
| - Black Pepper: Piperine
|
| - Mustard/Horseradish/Wasabi: Allyl Isothiocyanate
|
| - Sichuan Peppercorn: Hydroxy-Alpha-Sanshool
|
| [1] https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna8963709
| Zababa wrote:
| That's interesting, I wouldn't describe mustard as spicy.
| Mustard is shorter and more intense than capsaicin.
| whoisburbansky wrote:
| What about wasabi or horseradish?
| kaycebasques wrote:
| > I would never describe garlic or onions as "hot"
|
| Eat a raw garlic clove and then get back to me on that!
| fein wrote:
| It's the same in German. Hot mustard is "scharf" meaning
| sharp, but in the USA you would buy "spicy" brown
| mustard. Horseradish is sharp. Habaneros are hot/spicy. I
| agree that a raw garlic clove or the right raw onion can
| be "spicy", but they dont have a heat profile like
| something loaded with capsaicin.
| thaumasiotes wrote:
| I've done it many times. Is one more going to be
| different somehow?
| paraph1n wrote:
| Actually it's quite normal in American English to describe
| garlic as hot or spicy, especially raw garlic.
| thaumasiotes wrote:
| Maybe somewhere, but it's not a usage I've encountered.
| Chilis are described as hot; garlic is usually just
| described as "garlic".
| paraph1n wrote:
| Have you tried chewing on a fresh raw clove of garlic?
| You may find yourself using different words :)
| thaumasiotes wrote:
| > Have you tried chewing on a fresh raw clove of garlic?
|
| Come on. You could at least read my comments before
| responding to them.
|
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32111461
|
| You really think "sharp" is a bad descriptor for raw
| garlic?
| angrais wrote:
| Any reason why your Pinyin is written in ASCII and not
| unicode (as OP)?
| lofatdairy wrote:
| Honestly I could've just copied and pasted it but I'm used
| to just typing the numbers since I didn't learn the alt
| keybindings on my keyboard.
| MonkeyMalarky wrote:
| Is the numbing sensation similar to that of cloves?
| ch4s3 wrote:
| Sort of, but not exactly. Cloves contain eugenol which can
| act as a mild anesthetic. Sichuan peppers contain hydroxy-
| alpha-sanshool another organic alcohol that is pretty
| different chemically, I think.
| wil421 wrote:
| No it's more slightly numbing with some kind of electricity
| or bubbly (Effervescent) feeling.
| tintedfireglass wrote:
| cloves are sweet right? cloves have a pleasant taste and they
| don't taste "spicy" at all. I occasionally chew some cloves
| as a mouth freshener and I don't feel any overwhelming spicy-
| ness like black pepper or chilli pepper
| giraffe_lady wrote:
| Sichuan peppers are also not spicy at all. They have an
| intense herbal/mineral/fruity flavor that's hard to find
| comparisons for but it is nothing like the "heat" you get
| from any other foods considered hot like chili pepper,
| black pepper, ginger, raw garlic, etc.
| loeg wrote:
| To be clear, black pepper, chilis, and szechuan peppers
| are all distinct and unrelated plants.
| mcguire wrote:
| And cloves. :-)
| hvs wrote:
| I only recently became aware of the Sichuan "pepper" or at least
| its effects. Maybe I had somehow managed to never get it in large
| enough quantities to notice (I have certainly eaten
| Sichuan/Szechuan food many times in my life), but a recent
| experience with a a Sichuan dish that had a lot of Sichuan oil in
| it gave me the full mouth-numbing experience. I have to say I
| have been hooked ever since.
| BashiBazouk wrote:
| For decades Sichuan pepper was loosely banned then required to
| be heated to import in to the US (and likely other countries)
| because of a fear of citrus canker and the heat killed the
| numbing chemical. That has changed but you still need properly
| prepared and relatively fresh husks to get the effect. I've
| eaten Sichuan food my entire life but never had anything
| numbing until I went to China.
| hvs wrote:
| I've since bought Sichuan peppercorns from a local Asian
| grocery store and made my own oil and have gotten a good
| effect.
| jayceedenton wrote:
| > you still need properly prepared and relatively fresh husks
| to get the effect
|
| In the UK here. I've found that any old bag of dried, ground,
| Sichuan pepper, or dried Sichuan pepper corns that you grind
| yourself, will cause the effect. No need for 'proper
| preparation' or freshness, just sprinkle Sichuan pepper on
| the food.
|
| The pepper is greenish in colour. Just add liberally and
| you'll get the numbness.
| nemetroid wrote:
| I recently opened a bag of Sichuan pepper bought from a
| street vendor in Sichuan fifteen years ago. Still highly
| potent, more so than the stuff carried by local import
| stores.
| dumb1224 wrote:
| We don't usually eat them raw as it is just like
| peppercorns. The common treatment is to pour heated oil (a
| higher smoking one) over it to excite its flavour. Still
| numbing though if you happen to chew one.
| BashiBazouk wrote:
| I bought a jar from my local high end gourmet market and
| got nothing from them. Then bought some off Penzeys and not
| only do I get the numbing effect but the husks have an
| intense fruity flavor that is not present in the other
| brand.
| alisonatwork wrote:
| There are two different kinds - red and green. The red
| ones are the ones you usually find in dried format, and
| imo they aren't very numbing unless you really crush up a
| lot of them. The green ones tend to have more fruitiness
| and numbing power, especially if you can get them fresh.
| Otherwise it's probably easier to just buy the pre-
| seasoned oil.
| resoluteteeth wrote:
| > There are two different kinds - red and green. The red
| ones are the ones you usually find in dried format, and
| imo they aren't very numbing unless you really crush up a
| lot of them. The green ones tend to have more fruitiness
| and numbing power, especially if you can get them fresh.
| Otherwise it's probably easier to just buy the pre-
| seasoned oil.
|
| The red ones are the ones that are normally used in
| Sichuan cooking and they are plenty numbing.
|
| The green ones (from a slightly different species) are
| more common in Japanese cooking
|
| You don't really want to substitute them for each other.
| alisonatwork wrote:
| I don't know enough about Japanese cooking to comment
| extensively on that, but I do know that there is an
| ingredient called sansho that looks similar to green
| Sichuan peppers. That is not the ingredient I am talking
| about.
|
| From my observations living in China, shopping at wet
| markets and eating in restaurants, green Sichuan pepper
| is quite commonly used. Both red and green variants are
| sold in dry format, but the red ones are the ones you
| will find more often pre-packaged in supermarkets. They
| do both work to create a numbing sensation, but in my
| opinion, the green ones get you more bang for your buck.
| resoluteteeth wrote:
| It seems like you're right and they're different; there
| are apparently a whole bunch of different species.
|
| Sansho is Zanthoxylum piperitum and green sichuan pepper
| apparently may be Zanthoxylum armatum, so red sichuan
| pepper, green sichuan pepper, and sansho may all be
| different species.
|
| There is also Zanthoxylum schinifolium which is
| apparently used in Korean "Sancho".
| spaceman_2020 wrote:
| its so good, isn't it? Sichuan chili oil has become my favorite
| condiment. I make it at home in batches and add it to
| practically everything.
|
| Incredible how good just rice, a dash of light soy sauce, an
| egg, and a good helping of chili oil can taste.
| leobg wrote:
| Do you make it yourself? What kind of oil do you use? Do you
| have a link to a recipe? I want to try it! Sounds yummy
| spaceman_2020 wrote:
| I've modified it slightly over time, but the base is pretty
| much this recipe:
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrXPNq3QdfY
| leobg wrote:
| Lovely. Thank you! Any modifications you can recommend?
| Stevvo wrote:
| Your use of of the Wade-Giles "Szechuan" is telling; when
| written as such it refers to subclass of Chinese-American food
| catered to American tastes. It's great food in its own right,
| but not what its name suggests.
|
| In Sichuan they put this stuff in _everything_. Start off with
| a breakfast of Numbing & Spicy beef noodle soup. Mid morning a
| snack of cold rice noodles with lajao & haujao paste on it.
| ChuanChuan for lunch, Hot Pot for dinner and finish it off with
| a spicy BBQ in the evening.
| giraffe_lady wrote:
| There's also a prickly ash native (I think) to the american
| midwest. It must be pretty closely related to the sichuan one
| because the husks look very similar and have the same tingly
| property, though the other flavors are muted in comparison. It's
| equivalent to mediocre quality imported sichuan pepper.
|
| I used to forage it back when we could only get the really shitty
| stuff in the states, though I haven't gone looking for it for
| years now since we can get the high quality easily these days.
| Sporktacular wrote:
| It was exported to the Indian Ocean in colonial times too. It's
| known as Anamalo in some Creole languages.
| kaycebasques wrote:
| Jambu!! My wife and I are obsessed with this stuff, hah. We went
| to north Brazil (near Fortaleza) to spend time with her family.
| Her stepdad kept trying to find cachaca (pronounced "cashasa")
| infused jambu for me to try. No luck. Even in Brazil jambu is not
| that well known and is hard to find. It's easier to get in the
| north (closer to where it grows supposedly). We've been doing a
| running poll where we ask all her Brazilian friends, family, etc
| if they've tried jambu and most have never heard of it. Back to
| our time in north Brazil: eventually we're at a wonderful gourmet
| restaurant and we ask if they have any jambu and the waiter goes
| to the kitchen and comes back with the chef. Not only did they
| have a quality cachaca with jambu for us to try but the chef also
| prepared a jambu flower with some kind of oil. My whole mouth got
| numb. Also if you find yourself quite drunk the first time you
| try cachaca with jambu (like I was) take care to only have a
| little sip because a big one could make you throw up. Side note
| Brazilians call the "pins and needles" sensation of having a leg
| fall asleep "formigando" which comes from their word for ants
| ("formiga"). In other words instead of "pins and needles" they
| think of it as ants crawling on your leg. Anywho jambu is
| definitely an experience and Brazil is a very cool place. Also
| you can gain brownie points with Brasilians by spelling Brasil
| with an "s" ;D
| marcodiego wrote:
| I'm from Fortaleza and never heard about Jambu before. I
| actually thought it was Jambo misspelled.
|
| Everything you said about Brazil seems true to me. And for
| anyone thinking about visiting us: people from here a very
| receptive, especially with curious and respectful tourists.
| jlg23 wrote:
| No problems finding it in Belem 6 years ago. +1 on the "a
| little sip" - but I think that's true for any alcoholic
| beverage one drinks for yet another effect than the ones
| induced by alcohol (e.g. Absinthe).
| muaytimbo wrote:
| Probably more widely available in Manaus than Fortaleza.
| alecst wrote:
| Love that tidbit about formiga. Same in Italian: formica (ant)
| and formicolare ("to ant" or "to tingle").
| kaycebasques wrote:
| Yet another tidbit: your use of "tidbit" here is very
| appropriate given its etymology and the fact that we're
| talking about food! https://www.etymonline.com/word/tidbit
| jamal-kumar wrote:
| Oh hell, cachaca in general is such a strong liquor. I remember
| when I was in Brasil last I went to a restaurant where they had
| a bottle sitting in the front with little cups just to pour
| yourself a shot if you wanted one, almost like where you'd find
| free mints and toothpicks in many other countries. It took me
| by surprise that they'd have such a strong liquor sitting in
| the front of a place to drink for free after lunch like that,
| but when in Brasil... Would love to try some with jambu in it.
| Reminds me a little bit of salmiakki koskenkorva out of Finland
| [1], which is salty licorice vodka, salted with ammonium
| chloride, not NaCl, which definitely has a bit of a weird
| effect on your mouth.
|
| Amazing cuisine in that country and the people are incredibly
| nice and friendly. Would love to return some day again.
|
| [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmiakki_Koskenkorva
| happyopossum wrote:
| > Oh hell, cachaca in general is such a strong liquor
|
| In my experience it runs from ~80 to <120 proof (and most
| commonly ~80), which is in the same range as rum and bourbon,
| unless you're in a state/country with some crazy restrictions
| I guess?
|
| Everclear and Bacardi 151 are waaaay stronger than any
| cachaca I've ever seen.
| O__________O wrote:
| Jambu (Acmella oleracea) is native to southeast Brazil:
|
| https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:9...
|
| Also known as: Electric Daisy, Paracress, Eyeball Plant,
| Toothache Plant, Jambu, Brazilian Cress, Sichuan Buttons, Buzz
| Buttons, Tingflowers, Novacaine Plant, Phak Khraat Hua Van,
| Brede Mafane, Agriao Do Para, Peek-a-boo, Spilanthes acmella
|
| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acmella_oleracea
| marcosdumay wrote:
| Well, Fortaleza is on the North-East, not North.
|
| As you said, you will only find jambu on the North. I have no
| idea why people don't ship it around.
| Kaze404 wrote:
| Not sure if you're still taking responses to that poll, but
| I've personally tried jambu in uh... _other_ contexts. It's
| great :)
| eliseumds wrote:
| I did a road trip from the extreme south to Sao Paulo (1500km+)
| last month and found jambu-infused cachaca in the four
| different states I've been to. Def a recent thing though. I
| even saw jambu risotto and pastel (stuffed fried crust pie).
| soneca wrote:
| So a recent thing indeed. Living in Sao Paulo I never heard
| of jambu (I also do not drink alcohol, and apparently it is
| more interesting to consume with alcohol, so it might
| explain).
| jeanlucas wrote:
| Sao Paulo resident here as well... You may find it in
| several restaurants around Paulista avenue.
| eliseumds wrote:
| I've had jambu in Sao Paulo many times, although I admit
| that I visit the city multiple times a year just to eat.
| It's easy to find tacaca, pirarucu, chicken/duck with
| tucupi and so on.
| soneca wrote:
| I would imagine so. There is a lot of good things in SP,
| probably never heard of a lot of them.
| pvorb wrote:
| First time I've heard of pastel outside of my mother's
| family. I thought it's a very local thing.
|
| My mother is from Santa Catarina, but I grew up in south west
| Germany.
| Zababa wrote:
| > In other words instead of "pins and needles" they think of it
| as ants crawling on your leg.
|
| It's the same thing in French, we say "J'ai des fourmis dans
| les jambes" ("I have ants in my legs").
| ConfusedDog wrote:
| I was wondering about what Sichuan Pepper is. It's Huajiao. Yeah.
| I loved the numbing effect along with other actual hot peppers
| for hot pot. My Chinese ex, however, loved it so much literally
| got stomach ulcer and later also had Cholangitis and had to have
| surgery. It's a lot of pain, so please do not over indulge.
| firekvz wrote:
| Im sorry for laughing at your comment, it was fun to read and
| now Im wondering how much does it affect on general population,
| surely chinese population must have a huge % of people with
| ulcers at the very least
| wawjgreen wrote:
| They do as far as my observation can be a valid evidence. A
| decade ago when I went to a hospital in China, the line to
| the ailments of the stomach and intestine was the longest,
| and this was true in several hospital across different
| provinces.
| mytailorisrich wrote:
| I wouldn't call Sichuan pepper a stipple of Chinese cuisine. Its
| use is very regional.
| bpodgursky wrote:
| True, but I'd say it's a staple of international/exported
| Chinese cuisine.
| lofatdairy wrote:
| Honestly, I wish it was more of a staple if anything. It's
| surprisingly hard to find really good Sichuanese food. I've
| had mapo tofu that ends up tasting more like a poorly done
| Hunan dish because of an unpleasant sourness and thickened
| sauce, even in restaurants that claim to be Sichuanese.
|
| By far though, one of the best Sichaunese dishes which is
| unfortunately (and surprisingly) overlooked is their
| whitefish. If you know you know.
| bathMarm0t wrote:
| Tei Feng. The best. Milwaukee does it proper. Szechuan
| Restaurant on National.
| tlss wrote:
| Whole Sichuan peppercorns are most prominently used in Sichuan
| cooking where they can be the star of a dish (e.g. mapo tofu).
| However, the powder form is a central ingredient in the so-
| called "Five Spices" mix:
|
| - star anise - fennel - cinnamon - clove - sichuan peppercorns
|
| This "five spices" powder is used very often in Northern
| Chinese cooking as a meat or tofu rub.
|
| In addition, sichuan peppercorns are often used in lushui in
| the south:
|
| https://soupeduprecipes.com/chinese-master-brine-recipe/
|
| and also it can be found in a lot of braising recipes.
| tamade wrote:
| Dried peppercorns are found in most Chinese kitchens. It's not
| used in every dish, but it's certainly a staple in any Chinese
| pantry. The related Sansho peppercorn is used like black pepper
| in Japanese cooking.
| mytailorisrich wrote:
| Looks like we're quickly going into semantics but I maintain
| that it isn't "a staple" of Chinese cuisine in general. It's
| very regional and many regions will not notice a shortage of
| them.
|
| Bread is a staple of French (and European) cuisine, cayenne
| pepper is found is found in most kitchens but isn't.
| angrais wrote:
| Dried peppercorns are not necessarily Sichuan peppers, which
| are distinctly used in Sichuan cuisine. So while it may be a
| staple in Chinese pantry (and mine too) it is certainly tied
| to specific cuisine.
| wil421 wrote:
| I grow these and you can find them on rareseeds.com known as
| toothache plant. They are also know a Sichuan Buttons. It's fun
| giving them to guests. This year some bugs got to them but I
| think they will recover. I wanted to make a cocktail with them.
| silicon2401 wrote:
| any tips on creating cocktail recipes, or good cocktails to
| make at a party? I want to learn to make fun cocktails now that
| the standard starting price of a cocktail in the DC area is
| $12-15 (way too expensive for my taste) but don't know how to
| start. Buying liquor is easy because it can be used in
| different cocktails, but I want to avoid spending a lot for
| some ingredient that only works in a single recipe
| munificent wrote:
| To learn, I'd suggest:
|
| 1. Buy a cocktail book. I got one ages ago, so I'm not sure
| what I'd recommend today.
|
| 2. Pick one cocktail that you like and get the ingredients
| for it. Master it.
|
| 3. Slowly branch out to nearby cocktails that only vary by an
| ingredient or two.
|
| 4. Keep exploring that way.
|
| Like other culinary stuff, cocktails tend to be organized
| into a large web of related drinks. So once you pick a
| starting point, you can just incrementally explore the graph
| without having to buy a pile of ingredients.
|
| Eventually you _will_ amass a pile of ingredients. But,
| fortunately, most last a very long time.
|
| As far as a party goes, it depends a lot on your guests. In
| particular, their age. Cocktails go through fashion cycles
| like everything else and younger guests are more dialed in to
| those so will probably prefer whatever cocktails are big
| right now. I'm too old to know what that is but I know mules
| got super popular for a while.
|
| Older guests will generally have a standby or two that they
| know they like.
|
| If you just want to ensure everyone has a good time, I'd get
| sufficient beer and wine and then pick a popular cocktail or
| two. Anyone who doesn't like those particular cocktails can
| simply default to beer or wine.
|
| If you want to have a "cocktail party" where everyone is
| encouraged to focus on those, then good coverage would be:
|
| 1. Something sweet and fruity for those who don't like a
| strong liquor taste. Cosmopolitans are good for this.
| Tropical drinks like mai tais can be good too, though rum
| might be too strong for some.
|
| 2. Something long for people who want a lighter, larger
| drink. "Long" means mixed with a carbonated beverage. This
| could be as simple as a Jack and coke or fancier like a Tom
| Collins. Gin and tonics are great.
|
| 3. Something whiskey-based. People who like whiskey really
| like whiskey. Old fashioneds work well or manhattans if
| you're a little more adventurous.
|
| Talking to bartenders when you're at a bar is always great
| way to learn more. Just try not to bug them if they're
| clearly busy attending to patrons.
| silicon2401 wrote:
| Your steps make sense so I'll give that a try.
|
| > once you pick a starting point, you can just
| incrementally explore the graph without having to buy a
| pile of ingredients.
|
| That's exactly what I was picturing so thanks for the tips.
| Especially your intro steps and the coverage points. I
| specifically want to be able to make cocktails for friends
| at regular hangouts or as a fun activity at get-
| togethers/parties, so having good coverage is an especially
| important goal for me. I feel motivated to give it a shot
| now; I think I'll try Death & Co since a past coworker got
| into that, or just look around and see what's popular these
| days.
|
| One more follow-up question, after getting some experience
| with cocktails, have you been able to replicate cocktails
| you try at bars? That's another skill I'd enjoy having
| because I really enjoy most craft cocktails at bars, but I
| draw complete blanks when I try making my own recipes at
| home (unsurprising since I haven't really gotten into the
| craft), so I'd love to be able to replicate ones I try
| bcbrown wrote:
| It hasn't been updated in a while, but www.drinkboy.com
| is a nice site for learning cocktail recipes. The author
| also has a series of videos demonstrating how to mix
| various cocktails on YouTube:
| https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL87FA3F25BCD5B827
| munificent wrote:
| I haven't been as into cocktails as I used to be (having
| kids and getting older curtailed it), so it's been a long
| time since I've tried to replicate the cocktail
| experience I've had at bars.
|
| I don't know if I ever tried to directly replicate
| cocktails that I've had in bars. I mostly just focused on
| picking recipes and then iterating on them until I got
| them dialed in. It's a fun place to just explore.
|
| What I did learn, though, is that almost all of the craft
| cocktails I see on menus are really just variations on a
| few basic classic cocktails. They'll give it a fancy name
| and tweak a few secondary ingredients, but in general, if
| it's got whiskey, it's often a variation on an old
| fashioned or Manhattan. (City names are a clue for the
| latter.) If it has simple syrup and citrus, it's in the
| ballpark of a sour.
| alisonatwork wrote:
| I highly recommend the book Joy of Mixology by Gary
| Regan. It categorizes cocktails into logical groupings
| that explain how to methodically substitute an ingredient
| to adjust the flavor without creating an imbalanced
| drink. Most unique cocktails you find at bars are twists
| on existing themes, so once you grok those fundamentals
| it becomes easier to recognize what was tweaked.
| kaycebasques wrote:
| Great tip, thank you. Would love to grow some. Any lessons
| learned regarding how to care for them / things to avoid?
| wil421 wrote:
| Don't overcrowd them and watch out for insects. They don't
| seem to mind the heat once established. I started them inside
| and I should've used a larger container. They overgrew the
| seed start containers fast.
| joking wrote:
| Nice, now I have the urgent need to go to one of the true Chinese
| restaurants that I know, the sichuan style beef maybe is not the
| same that you are going to find in china, but it's really
| different enough from the rest of Chinese restaurants that I know
| NelsonMinar wrote:
| Does it have the same perceived 50 hertz frequency as Sichuan
| pepper? https://www.science.org/content/article/tuning-buzz-
| peppers
| twostorytower wrote:
| Does anyone know where we could order jambu (for cooking with) in
| the US?
| cwkoss wrote:
| I'm also interested!
| safeimp wrote:
| I found a site that lists them but they're too expensive/in too
| large of quantity for something I'm only interested in
| sampling: https://www.marxfoods.com/Sechuan-Buttons-Buzz-Button
|
| If anybody has a source I'd be curious.
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