Green sansho pepper - Sanshō-no-mi

Our sanshō or sansho pepper from Wakayama is undeniably one of the better sanshōs. To do justice to the subtle mint and citrus flavor, the slightly bitter, oil-rich seeds have been removed.

The sanshō or Japanese pepper is related to the Chinese Szechuan pepper and the Nepalese timur, but unlike these two brothers or sisters from the Geelhout genus (Zanthoxylum), the leaves, flowers and shoots of the sanshō tree are also eaten. Sanshō also means mountain pepper.

Sanshō pepper has been used as a spice for thousands of years, it is believed, because there is no conclusive evidence for this. It was called naruhajika during the Nara era in the eighth century, and was used as a medicine for the treatment of diarrhea. For a long time it would mainly be used as medicine. It was not until the Kamakura era (1185 to 1333 AD) that it was used again as a spice by the samurai during hunting. From that time dates unagi, a dish of freshwater eel with sanshō pepper.

It is now a prominent spice, one of the few spices in Japanese cuisine. The unripe green berries are called sanshō-no-mi. These are sharper and more aromatic than the red sansho. The first green sanshōs appear on the market from May, the red ones in October.

One of the first preparations with sanshō ever was described in the Okusa cookbook from the fifteenth century. An eel dish. Since then, eel has always been prepared with sanshō in Japan or, in extreme cases, with shichimi tõgarashi (seven-spice powder).

In Japan people eat the berries (fresh and dried), the leaves and the young offshoots. This is not the case in most other Asian countries. The unripe green berries are very popular because of their flavor palette and sharpness. The red berries are more expensive, but because of their more pronounced citrus flavor, many do not appreciate them as much as the green ones, which are called sanshō-no-mi.

In Japanese cuisine people hardly use any spices. Sanshō is almost always used. When a Japanese uses 'our' black pepper, he is very selective about it. Almost all black pepper in Japanese cuisine comes from Sarawak, the Malaysian part of Borneo.

Our sanshō pepper is grown and comes from Wakayama, the beating sanshō heart of Japan since the end of the 19th century. They are grown by the fourth generation of the Kaneichi family business, founded in 1880 by Yamamoto Katsunosuke.

The unique sharpness experience of sanshol

Typical for all Zanthoxylum peppers, including sanshō, is the tingling you experience on the tip of your tongue due to a substance in the pepper called sanshool, named after the Japanese spice. The sharpness is caused by the amides in the skin of the fruit: α-, β-, γ- and δ-sanshool, α hidroxy sanshool and β-hidroxy sanshool. γ sanshool and α hidroxy sanshool are mainly responsible for the narcotic effect. The amount of α-hidroxy-sanshool in the berries can amount to (more than) 50 ‰ of the dry weight, of γ sanshool around 5 ‰.

Ripened berries are sharper than the unripe ones.

The tingling is accompanied by a slight numbness, jokingly compared to tasting a 9-volt battery. A single berry is enough to experience that! This somatosensation, stimulation by touch, has been used for centuries as an anesthetic in traditional medicine in Asia. Its operation is very complex and the subject of extensive studies. Hydroxy-α-sanshol in particular is said to cause the tingling sensation, and there are certain parallels with the sharpness experience of capsaicin, the pungent substance in chili pepper, but also with menthol and mustard oil.

Smell and taste

Sanshō is a member of the citrus family, which you experience in a scent that is a mixture of grapefruit, lemon, sereh and rosewood. In between you taste and smell - very lightly - mint. Characteristic of all Zanthoxylum peppers, and therefore also of sanshō, is the tingling that you experience on the tip of your tongue due to a substance in the pepper called sanshool, named after the Japanese spice.

• linalyl acetate, responsible for a pleasant citrus, bergamot and lavender scent,
• limonene, the scent of lemon peel,
• citral, the scent of grapefruit,
• geraniol, rose fragrance,
• geranyl acetate, lavender fragrance.
• β-pinene, pine resin, en
• linalol, responsible for the scents of rosewood and coriander

A ripe berry contains considerably more linalol, geraniol and geranyl acetate than a green berry. The aromas develop during maturation,

Combinations

Sanshō pepper combines excellently with citrus (kafir leaf, yuzu or sereh), coconut, coriander and curry leaves, miso and soy sauce.

Use

Except for dishes with freshwater eel - don't forget how heavily the eel stock is under pressure - sansho is delicious with white and red meat, duck, fish and shellfish, squid and squid and desserts, especially those with chocolate. Sanshō is a key ingredient in Shichimi Togarashi, Japan's 7-spice spice, and is used in Japanese noodle and miso dishes.

Attributes:

• 100% dried fruits of the Zanthoxylum piperitum
• premium quality: max 5% seed
• origin: Wakayama, japan

Assortment

• available in glass, pouch and test tube
• glass jar contains 30 grams
• stand-up pouches with a content of up to 30 to 300 grams
• available in 10 ml test tube
• larger quantities on request

Gift Wrap

• the jar is available in a tasteful gift box, consisting of a cube box filled with black tissue paper
• for an overview of our gift packaging, please refer to the category gift packaging

General advice

• sanshō pepper is the Szechuan pepper for the refined kitchen, and can be used both cold and hot
• use sanshō in moderation, and add it after or at the end of the preparation
• give the sanshō berries time to absorb moisture, so that the flavor can develop optimally

Save:

• keep your sansho pepper in closed packaging
• preferably store in a dark, dry and cool place
• best before June 2024 (06/24)
• this best before date is an indication