Lip-wobbling boffins: Eating Chinese food is like kissing a vibrator Food boffins have found that eating Szechuan pepper, an ingredient commonly found in Chinese food, produces the same sensations as those experienced when using a vibrator. So says a paper titled Food vibrations: Asian spice sets lips trembling from the Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences. The University …
Nothing about peppers this year, but now you can find out why onions make you cry.
Sichuan peppers are more like small peppercorns than chillies, they are not capsicum based and don't produce the burning sensation of chillies.
They've got a sensation described in Mandarin as "mah", as opposed to chillies which are "lah". You often mix the two in Sichuan food.
Oh and they're not phallic in any way, they're small, slightly spiky red/brown spheres about 1-2 mm across. You can happily use them and then touch any other part of your body you care to mention, they're used dried and don't produce much oil.
...There is a serious point to this research, because tingling is something often associated with pain. If we can figure out why Szechuan pepper produces the same response from our nerves as mechanical vibration, we may get a step or two closer to figuring out what makes us hurt. ...
Or, indeed, what makes us enjoy it.
Closely followed by an extensive study of the German S&M scene. Interestingly, current legislation defining legal sex habits says something to the effect that you are not allowed to appear to be causing any actual harm to anyone.
although only the tiniest taste of a Szechuan pepper based sauce on a tea spoon....
I then couldnt breathe until I had downed a litre bottle of "Pearl River", and use of my voice only returned after a second bottle of Pearl River.
Needless to say, the locals were rather amused at my reaction.
Yeah, that is amusing ^_^ Heh. Tendermouth :D
I wouldn't worry about it though: it seems like most "Szechuan' cooking in Western countries is anything BUT - no Szechuan peppers, they substitute crushed red and chili sauce instead because it is both cheaper and far easier to prepare (it turns out that I just experienced one of my best Kung Pao's ever and it was finally made properly; one of the workers told me it takes days to prepare Szechuan peppers for cooking).
"If we can figure out why Szechuan pepper produces the same response from our nerves as mechanical vibration, we may get a step or two closer to figuring out what makes us hurt"
People are so stupid now we need to tell them how they are hurting themselves and how to prevent it? Or are you really saying we need to know *why* putting your hand in fire smarts? I believe when you meet someone who just smacked a finger with a hammer, explaining why that hurts will probably get you punched in the face. I feel the same is true for most things that hurt, knowing the technical details is hardly going to make being hit in the face with a cricket ball any more desirable, and explaining why it hurts is probably going to end badly.
In 2003 I couldn't prepare ma po dofu (pockmarked grandma's tofu) in the US because SP was illegal to import. We speculated why, the two most plausible answers were
- it seriously inhibits dog's smelling ability (and you can't let those criminals get away ... barf, barf, howl)
- some people use it to lose weight
Now, finally, a third - protect the vibrator industry from cheap Chinese fakes?
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