Ingredient Identification: Hong Kong restaurant spicy spice I was at a fast food restaurant in Hong Kong which was apparently popular for its spicy dishes - there were cartoons on the walls and lots of red peppers everywhere.  It looked like a chain, sort of on the level of In-N-Out or Five Guys, but with spicy ramen.  My wife and I ordered different dishes and they both were, well, spicy.

But! This spicy-ness was a different sensation than I've had before or since, and I can't find what was causing it!  The best way I can explain it is lots of little ants with hot feet running around on my palate.  This isn't very appetizing, I realize, but it was delicious - usually, hot foods will spread out evenly around one's palate, but this was (I'll try again) like those "pinhead" toys where each bit of hotness was a separate point (rain on a tin roof?) It was delicious!

I hope I've given enough clues for someone to tell us what the heck this was!
It's possible it was a combination called 麻辣 (ma-la,) literally "numbing and spicy", a mix of hot chilies and Sichuan peppercorns (which are called Huā jiāo [花椒].)