Chinese 5 Spice Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is Chinese 5 spice made of? ›

5 spice is a combination of cinnamon, star anise, fennel seeds and cloves – the 5th ingredient can vary across recipes, we use sichuan peppercorns. But ginger and white pepper are also commonly used as the fifth component.

You can swap Chinese five spice with a mix of ground cinnamon and ground star anise. This will give you the spiciness and warmth of cinnamon and the licorice taste of star anise.

Although it's not spicy-hot, it is rather intense. “Less is more” is a good rule of thumb to use when cooking with it. With that in mind, feel free to experiment. It's such an easy way to add complex flavor to a dish, it's almost like cheating!

In the culinary arts, five spice (also known as Chinese five spice) is a blend of ground spices used in Chinese and Vietnamese cooking.

To start with, Chinese five spice is Chinese in origin. Seven spice powder is Japanese, and also called shichimi togarashi. Unlike Five Spice, Seven spice's foundation is comprised of chilis, dried orange peel, sesame seed, dried ginger, and seaweed, as well as Sichuan peppercorns.

Chinese 5 spice is one of the most famous flavor in culinary world. Using this spice will give your cooking an Asian and Middle East taste. The combination of cinnamon, star anise, fennel seed, Sichuan pepper, and cloves creates an amazing sweet and spicy taste in the incredible fragrance.

You will find this spice blend used within the cuisines of China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Hawaii. While the name implies only five ingredients, blends vary in the spices they're made from.

While both Allspice and Chinese Five Spice share warm, aromatic profiles, they are distinct spice blends. Substituting Allspice for Chinese Five Spice may alter the flavor of your dish. Five Spice typically includes star anise, cloves, Chinese cinnamon, Sichuan pepper, and fennel seeds, providing a unique taste.

I use both garam masala and Chinese five-spice powder and they both are different, used for vastly different cuisines. The basic recipe for five powder includes cinnamon, cloves, fennel, star anise and Szechuan peppercorns ( you can call it the Chinese version of garam masala, but it is still very different).

The Health Benefits of Five-Spice:

Szechuan peppercorns contain capsaicin which creates a feeling of heat which helps boost the digestive system. It is a rich source of vitamin A, carotenes, and pyridoxine.

How long does Chinese 5 spice last? ›

Storage: McCormick Culinary® Chinese Five Spice has a shelf life of 1,080 days when tightly closed and stored in a cool, dry place to protect against flavor loss and moisture. Avoid exposure to heat, humidity, direct sunlight and fluorescent light to maintain flavor and color.

Tarragon has notes of vanilla, mint, and eucalyptus. The combination of these two ingredients creates a taste similar to star anise. An equal mix of a teaspoon of caraway seeds and dried tarragon can replace star anise in a recipe.

Garam Masala + Star Anise

For an even closer match add some ground star anise to your garam masala. Start with 1/4 teaspoon ground star anise and 3/4 teaspoons garam masala for 1 teaspoon of Chinese 5-spice.

The warm, spicy-sweet flavor of allspice is very similar to that of five-spice powder, a blend of cinnamon, star anise, fennel, cloves, and ginger or pepper. Use equal parts of five-spice powder in place of the ground allspice called for in a recipe—it's great for both savory and sweet applications.

Five-spice powder (Chinese: 五香粉; pinyin: wǔxiāng fěn) is a spice mixture of five or more spices used predominantly in almost all branches of Chinese cuisine.

Stir black pepper, cumin, paprika, coriander, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cardamom together until evenly blended. Store in an airtight container.

Allspice is the dried, unripened berry of the myrtle pepper tree, or pimento, which is native to Jamaica and much of Central America. The berries are briefly fermented, then sun-dried until brown. Often mistaken for a blend of spices, allspice is a single-ingredient seasoning with loads of unique flavor.

It is like an upgrade version of Five Spices, meaning it has a deeper, profound flavor profile. Thirteen Spices has similar function as Five Spices, but it works better to remove stronger odor from meat such as lamb or deer, or for a cuisine that requires stronger seasonings e.g. a Sichuan spicy hot pot.