Facing Heaven Peppers

In my journey into the world of Szechuan cuisine, there is one ingredient that I have until now been unable to find, and is absolutely essential for producing the Real Deal, and that is... The Facing Heaven Pepper.

I've wandered through dozens of Asian and international food stores in St. Louis and Los Angeles, calling "Nǐ yǒu cháo tiān jiāo ma?" and I've scoured the web for leads, but the one thing that finally came through for me was to phone a friend. Or actually send the friend a Facebook message (I mean using the phone to talk is so passé...), and that friend lives in Toronto, Ontario, a multicultural mecca for North America. Seriously, if you've never been there? In some parts of town, Toronto actually has street signs with Mandarin translations. Plus I had the best Szechuan food outside of China there, and actually it may have even been slightly better than the stuff I had in China, so if any town would have them, Toronto would have them. And now, without further ado...

I give you the Facing Heaven Pepper:

Note the Chinese characters on the bottom right corner: 朝天椒. Recognizing those characters is the only way you would know that this is the right chili, unless you could identify them visually.

The beauty of this pepper is that it gives its unique flavor and heat over to the dish, and then just goes to the background, providing exactly the right amount of heat to complement the NUMBING sensation of the Szechuan peppercorns. The overall effect is addictive. ADDICTIVE I TELL YOU!

Even as I write this I am germinating some of the seeds to see if I can grow this beauty in my backyard. Can you even germinate seeds from dried chilies? I shall soon find out...