China / Basics
Homemade Five-Spice Powder
Chinese five spice powder (五香粉, five spices powder, or five-spice powder) is a convenient seasoning for Cantonese cuisine. It incorporates the five basic flavours of Chinese cooking—sweet, sour, bitter, pungent, and salty. One common recipe includes China Tung Hing cinnamon, powdered cassia buds, powdered star anise and anise seed, ginger root, and ground cloves. Another recipe for the powder consists of cinnamon, black pepper, cloves, fennel seed, and star anise. It is used in most Cantonese roasted ducks, as well as beef stew. Although this spice is used in restaurant cooking, many Chinese households never use it in day-to-day cooking. The formulae are based on the Chinese philosophy of balancing the yin and yang in food. A pinch of the powder goes a long way. A versatile seasoned salt can be easily made by stir-frying common salt with five spice powder under low heat in a dry pan until the spice and salt are well mixed.
Ingredients
- szechuan peppercorns2 tsp
- star anise8 pod
- ground clove1/2 tsp
- cinnamon, ground1 tbsp
- fennel seeds, ground1 tbsp
Quantities are auto-calculated from the original recipe as a guide. Items without numbers (e.g. “to taste”) are not changed.
Method 6 steps
Toast the Szechuan peppercorns in a dry frying pan for about 3 minutes.
Grind the peppercorns in a pepper grinder or coffee grinder together with the star anise pods.
Sift the ground spices to remove any larger bits.
Mix together the cloves, cinnamon, and fennel seeds.
Grind the completed mixture until it is a very fine powder.
Use sparingly, as it is extremely pungent.
