Most people in the US have never tasted real Sichuan food, not because it isn’t extraordinary, but because the ingredients that make it what it is never made it over here. The best Sichuan peppercorn grows at 1,800 meters above sea level, harvests once a year, and has a flavor that simply doesn’t exist anywhere else on earth. For a long time, no one thought the Western market would pay for something that rare and that specific. We thought they were wrong. We’ve never compromised on ingredients. We couldn’t. And this is why. #SichuanFood #ChiliCrisp #Sichuan #ChineseFood #ChineseCulture The Tribute Pepper (贡椒) is grown at 1,800 meters above sea level in Qingxi, in the mountains of Hanyuan county. The altitude, rainfall, and mineral-rich soil are what give it that signature floral, citrusy, lip-numbing punch. Grow the same seed anywhere else and you get a different plant. For decades, these ingredients rarely left China. Manufacturers had no incentive to export premium-grade produc...