Bee writer finds hot peppers on the tree and in an eatery

Fresno Bee food writer Joan Obra doesn't stop with klatch in the kitchen, but scours research fields and neighborhood shops for her comprehensive culinary news. Her story this week focuses on a Sichuan pepper, a spice so hot it numbs the tongue. The pepper is part of an observational trial conducted by UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Richard Molinar at the UC Kearney Research and Education Center near Parlier.

Typically, Sichuan pepper is imported from China. Molinar sees it as a potential crop for Valley small-scale farmers.

Nine years ago, he planted two Zanthoxylum armatum trees, a species of Sichuan pepper grown in Nepal, according to Obra's story. The trees came from a local Hmong family growing peppercorns for home use.

"We're just watching them to see how they do," Molinar was quoted. "I think it would be worth it to expand. It's kind of like jujubes and capers. There aren't a lot of these kinds of crops being grown in the United States. They are viable alternatives for our farmers."

UCCE's Michael Yang, a field assistant to Molinar, commented on the spice's use by Southeast Asian families. "They use the pepper to flavor everything from salsas to steamed fish," Obra paraphrased Yang.

Obra also made inquiries about Sichuan pepper at a high-end cooking store, an ethnic market and an upscale Chinese eatery, where the chef buys the spice from a Bay Area wholesaler.

Read more