A flavor Western food doesn't have

It is called "Ma" in Chinese. I haven't detected that flavor in any Western food.

How do I describe it? It is kind of spicy but not like the hot-pepper kind. Your tongue feels a bit numb after a tiny bite.

The Ma flavor is from Si Chuan Pepper (shown in the picture). Si Chuan is a province in South China and people there love spicy food, especially those with Ma flavors. For example a famous dish called "Hot-pepper chicken" is made of huge piles of deep fried red hot peppers and if you dig in, buried underneath there is the chicken, which was covered in ground Si Chuan pepper before being fried...

Ouch!