Looking to create recipes with schezuan pepper,Can anyone help me with the Chinese name that I cd refer to it @ the store please? Thanks!

Thanks everyone , I managed to communicate what I wanted effectively & thanks to a helpful shopper in the store, searched high & low only to find out that they ran out of the spice!, Did manage to get the powdered version! Now...gotta figure out what to do with it!

@Antoniajames, I think thats exactly what I'll do, print & show the chinese characters Thanks much!

I'd print, enlarging if necessary to make it more legible, and take with me prettyPeas's answer which includes the name in Chinese characters. That way, you can show it to the shopkeeper. He or she will know immediately whether they have it. ;o)

sorry -- i completely misread your question! but yes, prettyPeas has it right about pronunciation. if they don't understand "huajiao," you can also try saying "mala" as a back up. good luck!

Good luck. I've only taken an introductory Mandarin class, but 1st want to warn you that the diacriticals aren't to indicate long A, but to show that each of the syllables should be pronounced with 1st (neutral) tone--no rise or fall. Other than that hua and jiao are pronounced approximately how I, an English-speaker would expect. If you are worried, you can check out the "Pronunciation of Initials" (for h and j) and "Finals" sections (for ua and iao) in the Wikipedia pinyin article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyin

Thanks everyone..Let me try asking for hu?ji?o (hopefully I get the pronunciation right!)

maybe no, aargersi, but funny!

It can be called hu?ji?o (??). It is frequently labeled in English as prickly ash or sometimes just peppercorn. Going in with a picture might help, too. The Penzey's suggestion might be a great bet, too. I found, even here in the SF bay area that the sichuan peppercorns from a Rainbow Grocery (a local food coop with an extensive bulk spice section) was much fresher than the packets I had been buying from Chinese groceries or big stores like 99 Ranch.

you can add it to mapo dofu. also dandan mian. recipes with "mala" in the name refer to the hot and numbing feeling of sichuan peppercorns!

fuschia dunlop's cookbooks have a lot of good options =)

I find that enthusiastic flapping of arms and pointing helps
:-)

I am so NOT helpful

Once you get some, hold onto the package, and take it with you when you go shopping for more. I always shop for such ingredients in stores where no one speaks a word of English, so I can totally relate to this question!! ;o)

Frances Ren Huang addressed this in a comment thread in her recipie:

http://www.food52.com/recipes/9331_gong_bao_ji_ding_gong_bao_chicken

I bought mine from Penzey's which labels them in English. good luck!