Today I learned that Ma-La (From Kenji Lopez-Alt's exceptional cookbook that I got for Christmas) means "numb spicy" and is a Sichuan concept of mixing peppercorns, chilis, and other spices.
Then, like an hour later I read this post:
https://forum.calgarypuck.com/showpo...&postcount=511
Clearly I'm going to need to try this.