Soeos Sichuan Peppercorns, 4 Ounce(113g), Authentic Szechuan Red Peppercorn, Numbing and Tingle Effect, Less Seeds, Strong Flavor, Essential for Mapo Tofu, Kung Pao Chicken and Asine Cusine

nice and numbing, great quality, worth the extra cost.

These are the first Szechuan peppercorns I've ever bought, so I don't have a lot to compare them to. Here's my experience. They're very attractive and fresh-looking. They smell great when the bag is opened, very unique. The packaging is also attractive and reseals well. As other reviews mentioned, there are a fair number of seeds still in here. Sometimes that matters and sometimes not. I have used them as a spice in a jar of pickles, and in that sort of use (where they are a flavoring but not actually consumed), the seeds don't seem to matter a bit. However, if they're going to be ground up or used as an ingredient in a dish where they will be eaten along with the food, taking the seeds out is not difficult but can be time consuming. I de-seeded a heaping teaspoon of them, and it probably took me 5 minutes or so. They certainly give you that numb tingle! My best description is kind of a metallic buzzing numbness. The description of touching a battery to your tongue is not far off. As an ingredient in a jar of pickled okra I made, they give an interesting flavor, and the numbing creeps up on you after a couple bites. I find it a pleasant and interesting layer of the taste/texture experience. Overall, these seem to be very good quality. After receiving them, I found one of my local Asian markets carries a different brand, but I haven't bought any to compare. If you primarily use them in recipes where they are ground or consumed, you may want to shell out a little more for the ones that are supposed to have fewer seeds. I understand eating the seeds is unpleasant.

Good quality, has a nice flavor.

Edit: 9/4/2021 You know how good this sichuan peppercorn is when your mom (chinese) msged you specifically asking for you to buy another pound of this for her, because she used up the half pound i gave her last time and then proceeded to complain about all of the peppercorn from asian grocery stores are not up to par. I can't say if this is better than the better stuff in chn, but at least outside of chn, it has received the stamp of approval from my mum. ----------- These are really nice sichuan peppercorns and it's got that telltale numbing quality that is the key to all good sichuan food. Not all peppercorns are sichuan peppercorns, even if they look similar/the same! If you don't want to pick these out of your dishes, you can either toss some into a blender and blend into powder, toast them and then blend into powder, or infuse the oil you'll be cooking with by first stirfrying this into the oil and then using a strainer to remove it from the oil before you continue your cooking. I really love the quality of this, when you open the bag the smell of the peppercorn is just so fragrant! With the, uh, stuck at home-ness right now, I totally appreciate the kind of flavor this adds to the crappily made home-made food i'm...making right now. LOL

These are just great. They impart generous heat but most importantly to the appropriate recipe, they produce the numbness and tingling of the tongue that characterizes Sichuan (or Szechuan) cooking. I am becoming more adventurous in cooking. They give you quite a lot, but the bag has a good airtight seal, so they stay fresh.