Mystery Lao Spice

Since we were so successful with identifying "bass leaves" as ivy gourd, we may be able to figure out what this spice is. Does anyone know?

Pat Tanumihardja of ediblewords.com came across it in Seattle, where a Lao farmer had used it in a sausage stuffing. Pat didn't taste it. It looks like Sichuan peppercorns but it's got a 3-point configuration like star anise (which has 8 points).

Also, what does it taste like and how can one use it?

Thanks!

Comments

[Robyn]

Well, the black seeds make me think it's a variety of prickly ash. One is grown and used - dried and fresh - in north-easern Thailand, and the proximity to Lao leads me to guess it's the same thing (or another variety). In Thailand it's called makhwen and it's slightly smaller, and stronger, than Sichuan peppercorns. It also has just the slightest whiff of citrus to it. Fresh, it's pounded with other ingredients for a nam prik (dip) to eat with sticky rice and added to stir-fries and curries. Dried, it goes into a heavenly pork parts laab with lots of other dried spices and fresh herbs, and is added to soupy curries, usually at the end.
BTW, there are other varieties of prickly ash in Indonesia, Nepal, and India (and Japan of course).

[Andrea Nguyen]

I think it's the same. Singapore-food expert Christopher Tan just wrote:

"I was in Laos last year, I saw big bunches of the mystery spice in every market I visited, sometimes dried, sometimes half-dried. I tasted it and found that the flavour is pretty much exactly like Sichuan peppercorns and sansho, so it's likely the same or a closely related plant. Laos has many many mystery spices, the hilltribe market in Vientiane had roots and barks and berries and wizened unidentifiable things in bewildering numbers!"

The Hmong eat fresh Sichuan peppercorns which have a numbing effect that's a bit on the crazy side. One of them numbs your mouth for about 30 minutes. The ones I ate were not shaped like these Lao ones. Like Robyn and Chris say, this is a member of the prickly ash family.

Looks like we solved another one! Can we get paid for this???

[Robyn]

Andrea - what do Hmong do with fresh prickly ash?

[Andrea Nguyen]

I'm not 100% sure what the Hmong do. Their cooking is so simple. When I asked, I vaguely recall the person saying something like, "We just add it to food, taste it." When the zing came, the conversation focused on what my mouth was experiencing and that was that. Sorry I don't have more info.

[Pat]

Thanks for the info, guys! Payment comes in the form of eternal gratitude and perhaps lunch the next time we meet?

Pat