How To Prepare Szechuan Peppercorns

Learn How To Prepare Szechuan Peppercorns easily for your next recipe by following these simple steps.

Course Homemade Ingredients & Condiments

Cuisine Chinese

Keyword grind spices, how to, mulled spices

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 8

Servings depending

Calories 44

Author Laurie McNamara

First measure and sort through your Szechuan peppercorns. Then, sort and pick out any black seeds and discard, only keeping the pink hued hull.
Next add the hulls to a skillet. Then heat over medium to medium-low heat until they become fragrant. This shouldn’t take too long, about 5 to 8 minutes or less. Transfer to a plate to cool.
Then, once cooled, transfer the Szechuan peppercorns to a mortar and use the pestle to grind and smash the peppercorns into very small pieces.
Lastly, transfer the ground Szechuan peppercorns to a mesh strainer, set over a bowl and sift. Use the ground szechuan pepper in the bowl and discarding the larger hull pieces.
It’s better to grind your peppercorns in small batches because they will lose their flavor quickly. Freshly ground Szechuan pepper is better fresh. Refrigerate any extra ground Szechuan pepper.
Use in any recipe calling for ground szechuan peppercorns.