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The Spicy Stir-fried Clam with Peppercorn & Chili (椒香炒蜆) was another irresistible dish which used five different spices to create this peppery taste. I also had mantis shrimp here before with the same spices and it was equally delicious.

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I never knew you can add whole peppercorns to stir-fried clams! Can you? Do I throw peppercorn spheres into stir fry pan?

Or do you ground peppercorns first?

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    I use whole black peppercorns, plus ground Caraway and vinegar in my boiled cabbage. 9-10 minutes boil is enough to soften peppercorns to the point that they bust when you bite down on them. It's quite a Pepper Explosion in your mouth. – Wayfaring Stranger Sep 30 '20 at 21:21
  • It's not clear on how SA would be able to answer your question about what some blogger "meant". I mean, how would we know? Can you clarify your question, please? – FuzzyChef Sep 30 '20 at 21:37
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    I'm not able to do the translation myself, but an important note is that I frequently see "peppercorns" refer to Sichuan peppercorns (which are not related to black peppercorns at all, and are quite different). Using whole Sichuan peppercorns is something I would do, but I would not use whole black peppercorns. – AMtwo Oct 01 '20 at 00:20

1 Answers1

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Yes, it's whole peppercorns.

In both Chinese and French cuisine, it's not unusual to season a brothy sauce or braising liquid using whole peppercorns. It's one way of giving the sauce a peppery flavor without having little black flecks all over the food, they way you would with ground pepper. And, like other whole spices, whole peppercorns release their flavor better if it's going to be a long braise.

As @AMto points out, it wouldn't be unusual to see whole Sichuan peppercorns in a Chinese recipe as well, and you can't tell what's meant just from the text. You can, however, tell from the photo:

picture of clam dish, with peppercorns circled in red

Those two objects look just like peppercorns that have been braised in liquid to me. They do not look like Sichuan peppercorns.

FuzzyChef
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  • Just a side note, you still want them lightly crushed so that the flavor comes out. It's also common practice to toast the peppercorns before using them. – xuq01 May 13 '21 at 12:21