if you've ever had such fun food or
spicy hot pot you've definitely
encountered this spice
they're cold suits one peppercorns and
they're native to China and they're what
makes the cuisine so mouth numbing Li
spicy and the effect can be well
electric it's starting
to spread all over my mouth one study
shows the tingling sensation has the
same frequency as some power grids but I
noticed growing up in Los Angeles that
the peppercorns and the skates weren't
really that strong so I had to go to
Sudan to get the real deal
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we are on our way to hon yin the
epicenter of pepper corn production in
China and for the Americans out there
hanging is de peppercorns as Napa is to
wine it is said that the best
peppercorns in the world come from here
but whether or not that's actually true
well we'll find out
I met up with zun's hall a peppercorn
distributor and processor he took me to
Ching she a town in hanyan that
allegedly has the best peppercorns in
the country straight honey Nene okay sir
1 D 2 carrots another hyah hyah how'd I
do
Jamie your chinita wide Romanian they'll
get us to Akuma did you know that 30%
I'm a doctor - young way I am I wait at
Rubino woman's opinion what you're the
heart my inner senses to be a fan man
has a type of fire coyote a go this is
how long need a TV so he just a little
ma hours of the kitchen even each other
Jeju Casas had a hot dog despite its
name peppercorns aren't actually related
to peppers many different species in the
citrus family you do have thorns and
specifically younger plants the reason
why peppercorn harvesting is so
meticulous is because you see these
thorns on it so you have to do
everything by hand you can't just like
grab it and that's why it can be quite
expensive 53 year old Lee sujin has been
picking peppercorns for 30 years now
she makes roughly $5 for every kilogram
picked on average she can pick 10
kilograms a day during the harvest
season working from sunrise to sunset
can call me Joey
I hope you can is a I'm going to put the
chin there's only you'll never call you
a jumbo you don't do this
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[Applause]
first the peppercorns are dried then
they're put into this machine which
filters out the seeds stems and leaves
before these machines existed
peppercorns had to be defeated by hand
you can imagine it took a very very long
time
holman mate is too high so she and other
negative mu young maidens I knew I would
a yahoo one gene oil this year the tall
is selling his peppercorns for twenty
one dollars per kilogram most of his
clients are restaurant owners and hotpot
chains in China but after a whole day in
hanyan we still wanted to know our
peppercorns from here actually better we
went to a local market to find out
[Applause]
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actually has a much more aural taste
compared to the other peppercorn which
is from a different part of the time
which is much more of a savory for a
second opinion we asked entrepreneur
Jenny Gao for her take Gao was born in
since when and imports honey and
peppercorns to the States
from my experience it is the most
fragrance that I've ever experienced the
locals will say that it's because of the
topographies because of like it's the
climate at being high in the mountains
then why aren't peppercorns in the
States as fragrant the answer is a
series of weird import regulations for
years most of the best peppercorns in
the States were smuggled in they were
banned between 1968 and 2005 because
they could potentially Harbor a
bacterial disease called citrus canker
that ban was lifted in 2005 but only on
the condition that the peppercorns were
heated to kill bacteria don't tell me
thank you for an hour so that's clearly
not good for the oil content it's so
therefore the potency the flavor the
aroma the fragrance you know not ideal
today people don't have to do that
anymore but few know about this
regulation change but the latest
footnote it said if such one peppercorns
come to the country just inspect and
release in other words no longer was it
necessary to have heat treatment but no
one knew this I mean there was no
announcement there was no press release
as a result most peppercorns and the
states are still heat treated which they
loots their potency we're still heat
treating and overly treating some of
them
and you know when I try to can share
this good news they were they were not
convinced I think the biggest problem is
that you know there's demand for the
best stitch one pepper within China and
then you know they're importers who
bring over giant amounts of it here for
the supermarkets they really they bring
over the least expensive it's been the
lowest quality full of seeds and twigs
and when it comes to peppercorns most
Americans don't get the best so to
experience the real deal you might have
to come to China there are many ways to
use peppercorns they generally come in
two types green and red the green have
more floor notes and they're often
paired with fish or use as a garnish red
pepper coins are more common and are
usually roasted before their use here it
sprinkled on as a powder here it's being
used in hotpot and cooked whole and
stir-fry they can even be made into oil
in some parts of sits on the leaves of
the pepper country are deep fried and
eaten as well it's like tempura in terms
of texture but then you get that nothing
but where does that numbing sensation
come from there's multiple analogs in
Sichuan peppercorn but the main one is
hydroxy alpha sensual the chemical
produces a similar effect anesthetics
used in surgery like any spice it loses
its potency after a while especially
when you expose it to things like the
air and like heat obviously when it's
first harvested in August it's the most
potent when it's in the freezer it you
can make it extend a lot longer it seems
like a lot of work for a little spice
but there's something about the
peppercorn bus that keeps people coming
back yeah I think so sort of
experiencing the peppercorn it's not
just one compound but it's really the
synergy of all of these different cycles
coming together
so much variation in sort of that flavor
that we're getting and that
physiological sensation I think it's
sort of a wonderful plan to explore and
get to know better
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