Sichuan Pepper & Prickly Ash

Red Sichuan pepper (often sold as Da Hong Pao styles from origins such as Hanyuan, Maoxian or Wudu) is usually described as deeper, longer numbing with floral-woody notes. Green Sichuan pepper (Jinyang, Jiangjin and similar origins) is typically brighter, more citrus and faster on the palate. The catalog lists both whole peppercorns and powders; choose by cuisine, then lock sanshool, volatile oil, open rate and seed limits.

Hydroxy-α-sanshool is the alkylamide most often used to describe the numbing (ma) intensity of Zanthoxylum peppercorns. TikTok Spice listings state minimums determined in milligrams per gram, sometimes noting HPLC. On published SKUs the stated minima range from the low twenties mg/g on toasted or heat-treated grades up to the mid-thirties mg/g on selected tribute or vine-pepper lots. Ask for the lot value and the method, and do not compare numbers that were not measured the same way.

For whole peppercorns, pericarp open rate and black-seed limits are the practical cleanliness and yield measures. Published TikTok Spice whole grades include open-rate statements such as ≥88%, ≥92%, ≥95% and hand-selected lots with seeds as low as ≤0.2%. Ground powders are typically listed as 100% pericarp flour with zero seeds milled. Write both limits into the specification; seeds add bitterness and weight without numbing value.