HOT BREAKFAST

Sichuan Hot Eggs. Not for sleepyheads.

I’m partial to a hot breakfast, myself.  If you are too, and you really want to experience a culinary wake-up call, try some of these Sichuan Hot Eggs.

All you do is take two or three eggs and crack ’em into a bowl. Beat them with a fork or a whisk - hell, I ain’t particular - with a glug of half-and-half and a pinch of kosher salt.

Take an eight-inch nonstick omelet pan and add a couple of teaspoons of Sichuan hot oil.  Then heat it over a medium-high flame until the oil starts to shimmer and get pleasantly fragrant.  Pour in the eggs and cook ’em just the way you like ’em... omelette style or scrambled, whatever.

When they’re done to your satisfaction (“I likes me eggs dry and me wimmin moist”), plate them and give them a goodly sprinkle of Sichuan Doom Powder (a 50:50 blend of cracked Sichuan peppercorns and sea salt).  Then serve ’em forth.

It’s worth noting that Sichuan pepper doesn’t have the same kind of heat that, say, black peppercorns have, nor does it have the kind of fruity/vegetal burn that chiles impart.  They create a sort of numbing, electric sensation, amplifying any other flavors in the vicinity.  The Sichuan hot oil, in addition, has flavor notes of ginger, garlic, and star anise (among others) - there’s a lot going on, flavor-wise.  And if that’s not peppery enough for you, you can always dose these bad boys with some Tabasco, Texas Pete, or (even better!) sambal udang bercili, the piquant Malaysian/Indonesian condiment made with hot chile peppers and dried shrimp.  Yowza!

This stuff’ll wake your ass up, all right.