Szechuan peppercorns or ‘flower peppers’ as they are sometimes known are not peppers at all - being berries that resemble flower buds opening and from a shrub that belongs to the citrus family. Their taste is sharp rather than hot, though they are mildly spicy and certainly mouth
numbing. To bring out their best flavour they should be roasted and you can do that by dry-frying them over a medium heat for a few minutes until they brown slightly and begin to smoke a little. Remove immediately from the heat and allow to cool down then grind them with a mortar and pestle - or in a coffee grinder - and keep them in an airtight jar ready for use.

Szechuan dishes are typically hot, fragrant and spicy - this is no exception. The dish requires mild green chillis but you might want to look out for the large ramiro shaped pale green peppers that are around which are mildly hot. Serve with boiled rice.

Ingredients - serves 4

450g chicken breast meat
1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp dry sherry or rice wine
2 tsp sesame oil

225g mild green piquant peppers or chillis
3 tbsp groundnut oil
3 cloves garlic, crushes and finely chopped
1 tsp szechuan peppercorns, roasted & crushed
1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp brown sugar
splash of water

Method

1 Cut the breast meat into thin slices and marinate in the light soy, sesame oil and sherry. Cut the tops off the chillis, slice lengthways in half and remove the seeds.

2 Heat a wok or frying pan, add the groundnut oil and fry off the chicken slices (reserving the marinade) for a minute or so then remove with a slotted spoon. When hot again add the chillis, garlic and szechuan pepper to the oil and stir fry for a minute then add a splash of water, the soy, rice wine marinade from the chicken, and sugar. Cook for a further minute then return the chicken to the pan and heat through (if you sliced it as thin as you should it will be cooked through). Serve over rice.