Homemade Chinese Five Spice Powder For
Authentic Asian Flavours and Aromas

A traditional Chinese five spice is made up of varying quantities of cinnamon, cloves, fennel, star anise and Sichuan peppercorns. The great thing about making your own is you can adjust the ingredients to suit whatever you're cooking and it is the one I turn to for my stir-fry recipes and noodle dishes. 

What You'll Need: (makes about 5 tablespoons)

2 x 3 inch pieces cassia cinnamon
1 tbsp fennel seeds
2 tsp black peppercorns (or Sichuan peppercorns)
1 tsp whole cloves
5-6 whole star anise

tbsp = tablespoon
tsp = teaspoon

Directions:

  • Break up the cinnamon stick and star anise into smallish pieces
  • Finely grind these pieces in your grinder along with the fennel seeds, peppercorns and cloves
  • Once ground, sieve into a bowl

Store your Chinese 5 spice powder in an airtight jar out of direct sunlight and in a cool place. Use within 3 months before making a fresh amount.

General Info You May Find Useful

Even though the origins of this traditional Chinese five spice powder are lost in the mists of time...

Chinese five spice

...it's generally thought that these five ingredients were chosen as they encompass our five taste sensations which are:

pungent, bitter, salty, sweet and sour.

This supposedly balances the yin and yang in food which is important in Chinese philosophy.

Then again, maybe a cook a long time ago was experimenting and just struck lucky and found a mixture that works!

After Making Your Chinese Five Spice Recipe You May Like to Try...

Seafood Boil - A 
Traditional Mix of
For Infusing the
Flavours of Shellfish

Old Bay Seasoning -
If Fish, Shrimp,
Lobster etc Are
on the Menu

Garam Masala
Collection For
Awesome Indian 
Home Cooking


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