Ingredient Identification: Hong Kong restaurant spicy spice
I was at a fast food restaurant in Hong Kong which was apparently popular for its spicy dishes - there were cartoons on the walls and lots of red peppers everywhere. It looked like a chain, sort of on the level of In-N-Out or Five Guys, but with spicy ramen. My wife and I ordered different dishes and they both were, well, spicy.
But! This spicy-ness was a different sensation than I've had before or since, and I can't find what was causing it! The best way I can explain it is lots of little ants with hot feet running around on my palate. This isn't very appetizing, I realize, but it was delicious - usually, hot foods will spread out evenly around one's palate, but this was (I'll try again) like those "pinhead" toys where each bit of hotness was a separate point (rain on a tin roof?) It was delicious!
I hope I've given enough clues for someone to tell us what the heck this was!
Best Answer
It's possible it was a combination called ?? (ma-la,) literally "numbing and spicy", a mix of hot chilies and Sichuan peppercorns (which are called Hu? ji?o [??].)
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Answer 2
sechaun pepper causes that "buzz"....I remember listening to an NPR program where someone actually did research and through a large sample of tasters discovered the "frequency" of the buzz felt to be around 50hz almost always the same for all people. That's strictly from memory though and the number could be way off. It was interesting anyway.
Answer 3
It is the Sichuan peppercorns. I ate in Beijing and Chengdu. Awesome sensation. Even lips begin to tingle. There is literally nothing else like it.
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