There are five spices in the mix, but the "five-spices" name refers to five flavors:
- sweet
- sour
- bitter
- salty
- umami (savoriness)
As well as the spices are based on the five elements:
- fire
- water
- wood
- earth
- metal
For thousands of years, herbs and spices have been used to restore balance in the body that is why Chinese five-spice powder came to be.
Try the spices in any of the Chinese, Hawaiian, or Vietnamese cuisine dishes, under "Asian". *
五香粉 (Chinese)
/wǔxiāng fěn/
"five-spice powder"
Ngũ vị hương (Vietnamese)
ʻElima mau mea ʻala (Hawaiian)
Makes 1/4 cup (60 ml)
- 6 whole star anise pods or 1 Tbs. (15 ml) anise seeds
- 1 1/2 tsp. (7,5 ml) whole cloves or 1 1/4 tsp. (6 ml) ground cloves
- 1 cinnamon stick (3 inches / 7,5 cm) long or 2 Tbs. (30 ml) ground cinnamon. In Southern China, orange peel is substituted for cinnamon
- 2 Tbs. (30 ml) fennel seeds
- 2 tsp. (10 ml) Szechuan peppercorns or 3 tsp. (15 ml) peppercorns
一 /yī/ 1. Toast any dry whole spices in a dry skillet, about 2-3 minutes.
二 /èr/ 2. Place all the ingredients in a spice grinder or coffee grinder and grind until smooth.
三 /sān/ 3. Store in seal, airtight spice jar, up to 6 months.
*四 /sì/ 4. Five spice may be
- used on fatty meat (pork, duck, or goose).
- rubbed on chicken, duck, pork, or seafood.
- added to breading for fried foods.
- rubbed on Cantonese roasted duck.
- rubbed on Vietnamese broiled chicken.
- used in s shaker on a Hawaiian table.
