To me five-spice powder was always some dried up brown "stuff" in an old bottle in the back of my spice cabinet. I would read about it in Chinese recipes, but never use it. It never occured to me to make my own.
Five-spice powder is found in Chinese cuisine, but is also used throughout Asian cookery. The concept is to encompass all five flavors of sweet, sour, bitter, pungent, and salty. Traditionally it includes star anise, cloves, cinnamon, Szechwan pepper and ground fennel seeds. Another combintion of the five spices consists of huajiao (Sichuan pepper), bajiao (star anise), rougui (cassia), cloves, and fennel seeds. The concept is based on the Chinese philosophy of balancing the yin and yang in food.
Five spice is used with fatty meats like pork and duck. It is used in stir fried vegetables and as a spice rub for chicken, duck, pork and seafood. Five spice also is used in recipes for Cantonese roasted duck, as well as beef stew.
2 tablespoons black peppercorns
6 cloves
1 3/4-inch piece of cassia bark or a 2-inch piece of cinnamom stick
2 tablespoons fennel seeds
5 star anise
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds (optional)
In a small pan over medium heat toast all the spices until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Grind the spices in a spice grinder until very fine.
Richard Wottrich
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