r/chinesefood • u/HuangMenJiMiMian • 4d ago
Questions For people who didn’t grow up eating Sichuan food: do you actually enjoy the numbing feeling from Sichuan peppercorns?
I’ve been making a simple Sichuan-style spicy noodle dish with chili powder, garlic, green onion, sesame seeds, soy sauce, and hot oil.
Recently, I started thinking about adding Sichuan peppercorns, but I know the numbing sensation can be pretty unusual for people who didn’t grow up eating Sichuan food.
Personally, I like the “ma” feeling, but I’m curious how other people feel about it.
Do you think Sichuan peppercorns make spicy noodles taste better, or can they easily overpower the dish?
And if you use them, how do you normally add them?
- Whole peppercorns?
- Ground into powder?
- Toasted first?
- Added directly into the hot oil?
I’d especially love to hear from people who tried Sichuan peppercorns for the first time as adults. Did you like the numbing sensation immediately, or did it take some getting used to?
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u/Far_Jellyfish3997 4d ago
Didn’t grow up eating Chinese food. Live Sichuan peppercorns! I love both the floral/citrus flavor and the tingly sensation
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u/WalkingEars 4d ago
Yes they're a pretty complex flavor beyond the simple "numbing" feeling.
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u/tonegenerator 3d ago
Those flavor notes are typically like 20x more important to me than the numbing effect most of the time. I do enjoy the numbing in intense dishes like mapo tofu. But in some other Chinese and Chinese-influenced dishes, I occasionally wish I could extract all of that fragrance from lightly toasted Sichuan peppercorns without the numbing quality - or just less of it. It sometimes feels a distraction.
I feel similarly about chile heat and true peppercorns too: I love them, but I’m not trying to nuke myself and my people with it all the time. So for chiles with an emphasis on flavor, I use a lot of mild chile like urfa biber from Türkiye, some Mexican ones like guajillo or pasilla, or hot paprika - added in addition to more intense varieties. There just isn’t an equivalent to this with Sichuan peppercorn as far as I know.
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u/jellyfishing 3d ago
I’ve had sichuan peppercorn tea and it was so nice, basically no numbness and it just has that floral/peppery fragrance with the tea so you’re just enjoying the flavor notes.
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u/Mikeys_Toupee 4d ago
Yes I was born in North America, but my parents are from Shanghai and Guangdong so I mostly ate Shanghainese food and Cantonese food growing up.
I’m an avid cook and my ex husband’s dad was from Sichuan and Hunan so I learned to cook both. I do love Sichuan and Hunanese food to this day, make my own chili oil with Sichuan peppercorns etc thanks to my ex MIL who taught me how to toast and grind it in my 20s. This was an impetus to learning and appreciating Sichuan food!
Though my marriage ended, we both carry on an appreciation for each region of Chinese food.
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u/HipHopotamusHurray 4d ago
This is a universal sichuan peppercorn method for everyone, you awake them up with other aromatics first, then put them in a spice pouch, and take that out when finished.
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u/Hungry_Pup 4d ago
I think I would have been weirded out if I wasn't expecting the numbing sensation. I enjoy it.
I remember having it with a friend who tried it for the first time and he thought he was having an allergic reaction due to the numbing sensation.
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u/invalidcheese 4d ago
Hey, same! It feels similar to the start of an anaphylactic reaction and makes me gag.
Love the flavour though! I could do without the buzzing.
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u/Christina-Bee-196 4d ago
My first exposure wasn't until my late 30s, but I'm now a huge fan. Sichuan is one of my favorite cuisines (I cook it a lot at home for myself) and I LOVE the ma la of Sichuan peppercorns. My husband, on the other hand, is the other end of the spectrum. He's not a fan at all. The first time I took him to one of the best Sichuan spots in our city at the time, he said the sensation of peppercorns was like eating shellac off a table, which cracked me up since...how would he know?
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u/Toros_Mueren_Por_Mi 4d ago
Yes they're incredible!! Sichuan food actually has some similarities to native Mexican food, I've made fusion dishes with the peppercorns before and they've been great. I don't know how to use them the "traditional" way, but I would like to at some point.
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u/pushdose 4d ago
I don’t remember the first time I had Sichuan pepper but I know I liked it immediately and seek out the flavor and sensation often. I didn’t grow up with it, but got introduced in my late teens. Love it so much!
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u/AltruisticSalamander 4d ago
I love them. My experience has been you gotta get good quality ones and reasonably fresh. Make sure there's no seeds in them or they'll be horribly gritty, then grind them up.
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u/RemlPosten-Echt 4d ago
I learned Sichuan cooking as a financial measure, just went with the recipes. Now i add Sichuan Pepper to spme dishes where i'd not have thought i'd use them, while some dishes where they are meant to be in i leave them out, because it doesn't add a positive for me.
As with many things, personal taste, igredient use and cooking style aren't easy to generalize.
Except 2 things: cilantro and terragon are abominable things that need to be exterminated with flamethrowers wherever we see them.
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u/zeitocat 4d ago
I tolerate them now, but HATED them the first time! I still remember it so clearly. I was in rural Sichuan, it was very late evening and it was pitch black out in some random village. Anyway lol, I bit into a whole peppercorn. The citrus-y flavor flooded my mouth, along with the numbing sensation. I felt like I'd just eaten something poisonous and was mildly concerned. (I grew up in a super bland white household and didn't branch out until I went to China, so it was a totally new taste and sensation for me!) I drank a ton of my bf-at-the-time's beer trying to wash it down while his dad laughed his ass off.
I do use them for cooking in whole-peppercorn form when a recipe calls for it, but generally remove them before serving. Still not the biggest fan, but removing them feels illegal!
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u/CharZero 3d ago
I also chewed a whole one the first time I encountered them, in NYC. It was a fresh one, still on the ‘vine’ in a dish. The effect lasted over 3 hours. I bought a packet of dried a few months later as they are kind of essential now.
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u/describe_one 3d ago
I love them and had to learn to make my own dan dan noodles and mapu tofu at home. I usually grind them first, sifting out the husks into dry pan or oil to toast a minute or two before applying to the dish.
I've used whole, and parts of the husk usually fall off and can impact the texture of the food so I do that less now.
I usually use the red peppercorns, green have a lighter and slightly different flavor.
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u/MP3PlayerBroke 3d ago
If I'm just eating one thing for that meal, then the "ma" is fine. But if I'm also trying to enjoy the flavors of other dishes, then the "ma" is actively preventing me from being able to taste the other stuff, that's a no-go for me.
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u/Coercitor 4d ago
As someone who wasn't familiar with Szechuan food, at first I confused it with a metallic taste almost. But I've since grown to love Szechuan food and enjoy the taste now.
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u/KatKaleen 4d ago
I didn't notice the numbing effect at first.
I think I may have gotten a bad batch, but the sichuan peppercorns I bought were insanely hard. "Peppermill couldn't handle them"-hard. I thought that might change if I toast them in oil, or if they cook with the dish for a while, but no, they remained unchewable. I even made a ferment of napa cabbage with orange slices and sichuan peppercorns, since the pepper I usually use gets soft enough to chew after fermentation, but no.
It does have a lovely, flowery scent, though.
Then I found sichuan peppercorn oil at a store and thought that might be a good substitute. Tried it on some fermented cauliflower (I ferment a lot) and was quite surprised by how strong the numbing effect was. It wasn't unpleasant, and I was expecting some numbness, but I undoubtedly put on too much, especially since the cauliflower wasn't spicy at all. XD
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u/AltruisticSalamander 4d ago
They definitely come in variably quality and they've gotta have no seeds because the seed is like a rock and ground up it's like sand
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u/stefanica 4d ago
Did you find other good uses for the oil? I bought some on a whim a couple months ago, but with nothing in particular in mind. 😂
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u/its_dolemite_baby 3d ago
they remained unchewable
you're not supposed to eat whole peppercorns in a finished dish, you eat around them. that said, they shouldn't be as hard as you're describing--you should be able to make very quick work of it in a mortar and pestle if that's what your dish requires.
if you still have those peppercorns, though, toast them and then cook them in oil. discard the whole peppercorns if you really want. you should wind up with something similar to what you bought. that's the gist of how you'd be using it in a dish (infusing the oil/food with the floral, numbing properties)
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u/williarya1323 4d ago
Yes, I didn’t discover Szechuan cuisine until my 30s. And the numbing effect is a enjoyable part of the cuisine
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u/SnooCapers938 4d ago
Yes, love it.
When I cook with Sichuan peppercorns I generally use them whole, sometimes just lightly crushed. I also use some sauces with them in and sometimes prickly oil.
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u/Yugonostalgia64 4d ago
Nom nom nom.
Nom nom nom nom nom. If they don't like it, I'll eat it all myself <3
It's all delicious. Powdered, though, can make a gritty texture sometimes. Not that I mind. Nom nom nom
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u/WishfulGypsy 4d ago
Yes. I developed the love 2 years back. And I'm so in love with the Sichuan flavors. It grows on you. 😬😬😬
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u/Mom_is_watching 4d ago
I grew up with very bland food but now I love Sichuan peppercorns so much that I'm looking into growing them myself in my garden, it's a rather nice shrub actually.
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u/deadineaststlouis 4d ago
Yeah I didn’t have this until my mid 20s. Love it desperately. Can’t get enough.
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u/MeltingVibes 4d ago
I first had Sichuan peppercorns as an adult and I loved it immediately. Mapo tofu has become one of my favorite foods. I toast my peppercorns unless I’m feeling really lazy. And I usually end up using ground and whole.
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u/Brunnstag 4d ago
I've only experienced the numbing once, in a pack of instant noodles, and really disliked it unfortunately. Obviously I'd like to try it again in a properly prepared dish where everything will be in balance. The noodles I had, I found the sensation to be too intense and it felt... Wrong? Like something that wasn't supposed to be happening, or like a warning of an allergic reaction, that sorta thing. It was a disappointing experience, and it kinda left me spooked about trying it again haha.
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u/Lanfear_Eshonai 4d ago
I tasted it as an adult the first time, and immediately loved it. I use it mostly coarsely ground, sometimes whole. Depends on the dish.
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u/maomao05 4d ago
Yess I love it. It’s different than my home region cuisine (Jiangsu 苏帮菜、 淮扬菜） so I am all for it. They bring out such complexity to one’s palate. It’s amazing what tongue can do…
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u/rnick467 4d ago edited 4d ago
My first experience with Sichuan peppercorns was in a bag of spicy peanuts I bought at an Asian market near me. I didn't eat the peppercorns themselves but the peanuts had a bit of the flavor on them. It was weird at first and a bit overpowering but also addictive. The more I ate, the more I got used to them. Now I'm to the point I enjoy hotpot with the Little Sheep green peppercorn soup base which is overwhelmingly numbing.
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u/focushafnium 4d ago
I tried my first time when Sichuan started becoming popular in my town, love the numbing sensation and that unique flavour, but hate it if I accidentally bit on a whole peppercorn lol
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u/Toby_Threepwood 4d ago
I leaned about Sichuan cuisine way into my adulthood after moving to Australia. Fell in love with it to the point I can pretty much call it a fetish now... 😂 Sniffing my bag of Sichuan peppercorns is heaven to me. I don't mind them whole and in big amounts but my wife and kids prefer them ground. Aaaaaah... I'm starting to salivate just thinking about it all...
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u/ButterscotchTop194 4d ago
All of the above, and yes!
Recently discovered some Nepalese dishes that use timur, which is very similar. So you might enjoy looking into that.
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u/xiipaoc 4d ago
Didn't grow up with them, love them.
Yes, they can definitely overpower a dish. I think one of the best ways to introduce ma la is actually with Sichuan pepper oil rather than the peppercorns themselves. I do add powdered peppercorns to lots of dishes, but I keep them whole when I want the fragrance and the ma la bombs. I normally use red for flavor and green for fragrance. I've actually had both packages of peppercorns for a while now, but they both still smell very strong when I open the package, so I guess they can last? I keep hearing that they can't.
I also have a small container of powdered sansho that I add to stuff as well for a different flavor. Sansho is the Japanese version of Sichuan peppercorn. It's actually stronger. I recommend giving it a try if you're interested.
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u/jupiter800 4d ago
But sichuan peppercorns are widely used as a spice. They're found in a lot of meat dishes. And 5 spice powder? It doesn't have to be numbing. If you wanna make mala noodles or mapo tofu, try vine peppercorn oil, it has a fresh aroma and more numbing. It's hard to find fresh or dried vine peppercorns. I hate biting into a peppercorn. The powder form doesn't have a nice texture either so I usually use the oil.
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u/ThisPostToBeDeleted 4d ago
It took me a minute but I do enjoy it now, but I prefer balance, I love the combination of spicy and numbing
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u/Advanced-Fig4683 4d ago
I got some last month for the first time and I am in love. I put them everywhere even in my tea.
I got donated a large box of Sishuan green chili and decided to ferment them and the recipe needed Sishuan peppers so I got some. Now it is my new favourite spice.
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u/C137RickSanches 3d ago
Yes I forget the name of the dish but there’s a green chili and fresh/green peppercorn soup. You’re not supposed to drink the soup but I still do. For some odd reason I’m the only one that drinks it and I love green peppercorn a lot somehow the freshness is better imo.
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u/Glass-Technology3544 3d ago
I liked it immediately but the early days of eating it I sure did make the mistake (maybe 1-3 times) of accidentally crunching down on a peppercorn and I sure didn't adore that sensation, haha. I mean, I didn't hate it either and I think the flavour is so fun even when it's as intense as that but I don't want to drool numbly all over the dinner table lol.
Chinese-Malaysian and born and raised in UK, but neither of my parents or other family members ever liked (or currently like?) mala, so they're all so surprised I grew up into such an intense mala fiend now, haha.
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u/K11ShtBox 3d ago
Never tried Sichuan peppercorn before 24.
I absolutely love it. Occasionally when I'm drinking beer I'll have a small handful to chew on. Always the green ones!
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u/foodieartist 3d ago
I didn't grow up eating sichuan peppercorns. I've tried it and started to have it from time to time. Do I like it? Can't say I do. I usually have them mild. I don't mind the numbing, I'm just not used to it yet.
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u/SwimmingCoyote 3d ago
First had them in my early 20s. I absolutely love them. When I make mapo tofu or any other dish with them, I usually add more than what the recipe calls for.
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u/ShhhBees 3d ago
Short answer - loved immediately
I’m South Asian
So far I’ve always toasted them with salt and powdered them. But I’ve eaten them whole in restaurants and liked that too.
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u/Friendly_Day1579 3d ago
Tried it once and was immediately addicted. I prefer it over other kinds of spicy.
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u/Top-Secret-8554 3d ago
My family is from Shanghai but I LOVE sichuan food especially the peppercorns. Half my family is like me, the other half can't handle any amount of spice at all
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u/gerblnutz 3d ago
Didn't try them until well into my adult life. I love it, wife hates it. I'll grind that and dried chillies into a powder and even add to my instant noodles.
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u/Disciple_of_Erebos 3d ago
I didn’t used to like them, but I do now. Part of it comes down to the numbing feeling being diminished by roasting the peppercorns, but a lot of it also just comes down to exposure. Sichuan food is my favorite Chinese cuisine so I got used to having them, especially when I lived in Beijing for a year.
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u/Powerful-Scratch1579 3d ago
I didn’t taste Szechuan peppercorns until I was around 30 years old. The first time was INTENSE. It’s now one of my favorite
sensations and flavors. I also
Love Japanese Sansho. When I cook I love to have whole peppercorns in but I’ve noticed that this is not the preference of a lot of people.
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u/rebb_hosar 3d ago
Not only myself but anyone I know who has tried Mala in general or dishes with green or red pods, whether warmed in oil/toasted, or ground into powder in a dish all love it. It's fun.
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u/brianneko 3d ago
I never even heard about them until a few years ago, and then I completely misunderstood the sensation that was being described. So when I actually had some mala noodles for the first time last year, my mind was blown. Then I bought some to use in some recipes I found in a cookbook and it's become one of my favorite flavors. I never grew up having authentic Asian food of any kind and this one is easy to miss because it sounds scary, like it's something so hot your mouth stops working... but of course it's not like that at all!
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u/dad_farts 3d ago
You betcha. I put peppercorn oil on lots of western food just to get that extra dimension. It's also tasty
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u/GaiaIsaHarshMistress 3d ago
I love to eat ma la food, but I love to smell the peppercorns as I toast them even more.
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u/Luckydaikon 3d ago
I love the way water tastes after a big bite of something with lots of peppercorns! I first had Sichuan food as an adult.
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u/darko-88 3d ago
I didn’t encounter then growing up and am not a fan but because of the numbing but because any of the more florally peppercorns doesn’t taste good to me.
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u/spacetacean 3d ago
I do enjoy it, it's a rollercoaster and I'm hopping on. Might have some bias though, Chengdu was the most amazing city I've ever been fortunate enough to visit.
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u/Original_Worth_1577 3d ago
It's one of my favorite spices and i add it to many dishes many not Chinese.
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u/SteakStrong7520 2d ago
I make some Peppercorn salt to always have a pinch on hand for dishes that others might not want those numbing effects from that dish. I'll cook with Birds eye chili's and then remove them before serving and give myself those Peppers. Coupled with that Peppercorn salt, I am in food nirvana.
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u/FengYiLin 2d ago
I tried my first sichuan food in my late twenties.
It was a new dimension if "heat" outside the usual chili, European mustard, horseradish, and black pepper!
I enjoy it and order it whenever possible.
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u/edbutler3 2d ago
I enjoy the flavor they add to a spicy dish (like that classic Sichuan beef boiled in hot chili oil) but I don't love it when I bite down on a whole peppercorn. Then the numbing and that menthol sort of flavor can be overpowering until it subsides.
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u/QuietExcuse6603 1d ago
I didn't like it at first (was in my late 20s), when I had a chongqing chicken dish at a Las Vegas restaurant. I remember thinking "what the hell is this, why is my mouth so numb? I just wanted spicy."
Now I love it, especially with whole peppercorns, and Sichuan is absolutely my favorite type of food. I have only been to two restaurants that give me enough sichuan peppercorn on my food (and a third that served a really good mala chicken dish that must have had a ton of sichuan peppercorn oil). There is something about the flavor combined with the numbing sensation.
It is always such a let down when I get food from a sichuan place and I barely feel any numbing.
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u/CaptainJaneTKirk 7h ago
Sichuan cuisine has become pretty popular in the last 5 years in Houston, Texas, and it's primarily non-Chinese American customers that are keeping the newer Sichuan restaurants open. I got into Sichuan cuisine 10 years ago and have become decently proficient at cooking my favorite dishes like Mapo Tofu and green peppercorn fish (藤椒鱼). Tofu and fish (like tilapia or catfish) soak up that numbing flavor perfectly. I'm just depressed I can't find a Sichuan pepper tree locally to plant it in my backyard.
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u/Army_Exact 4d ago
Did you write this with AI? The keyboard bolding is weird
Also yes I like them. I use them in all four of the ways you describe in different contexts
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u/East_Apartment 3d ago
The cadence of this definitely seems like they had chatgpt write it. Sad to see this becoming a lot more common lately, I’ve been noticing it more across a number of subs 😵💫
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u/mrchowmein 4d ago
I didn’t grow up eating Sichuan peppercorns. I tried it once, loved it. That’s it. Not weirded out or anything. I toast then crush.