Spice
Zanthoxylum piperitum
A tier
Zanthoxylum piperitum is Japanese sansho—the related prickly ash used as sanshō powder on grilled eel and in seven-spice blends. Numbing citrus character links it to Sichuan pepper with a distinct Japanese profile. Fresh young leaves (kinome) are a seasonal herb; dried husk is the powdered spice. Not identical to Chinese red hua jiao but same family sensation.
Track this ingredient
Unit
Characteristics
Preparations
Kinome LeafPowderShichimiUnagi
Traits
CitrusDistinct ProfileJapanese SanshoLeaf And HuskNumbing CitrusSanshoTingling
History
JP
Japanese cuisine used sansho as a native numbing citrus spice.
Botany placed Z. piperitum among Asian Zanthoxylum spices.
JP
Commercial sansho production supplied unagi restaurants and shichimi.
Global interest in sansho rose with Japanese fine dining abroad.