• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Norecipes - Elevating Everyday Meals

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • Ingredients
  • Cuisine
  • Type
  • Start Here
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • Ingredients
    • Cuisine
    • Type
    • Start Here
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×
    Home » Recipes » Chinese (Traditional)

    Updated: Jul 28, 2019 by Marc Matsumoto · 52 Comments

    Chinese Five Spice Powder

    Spices tend to lose their fragrance quickly once ground. That's why I like to make my own spice blends, including this fragrant Chinese Five Spice Powder.
    Recipe Pin

    While it's commonly believed that it gets it's name because it contains 5 spices, the number actually refers to the 5 elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. In traditional Chinese medicine, these elements manifest themselves in various parts of the human anatomy and imbalances in these elements are said to be the cause of disease.

    Various herbs and spices have been used for thousands of years to restore balance to these elements which is how 5 spice powder came into being. Today it's used in a variety of roasted and braised meat dishes, but it's probably most recognizable in the west as the main seasoning in Char Siu (Chinese barbecued pork).

    I've been thinking about making my own 5 spice for some time, but the catalyst that got things going was Todd and Diane from White Rice on Couple sending me some Vietnamese Cinnamon. It's incredibly fragrant, sweet and spicy and unlike regular cinnamon it's from the bark of a certain species of Cassia tree.

    I've seen many blends containing everything from fennel to celery seed, but I had a specific flavour in mind and went about toasting and grinding the spices until I hit the right balance.

    While most of the ingredients in the spice blend are widely available and familiar to western chefs, Sichuan pepper is a little less common. Despite its name it actually has no relation to black pepper or chili peppers. Both the leaves and berries are edible and it's a popular spice in Asia known by many different names. In China it's known as Huajiao, in in Nepalese it's called Timur and in Japan there's a related spice called Sansho.

    Sichuan pepper has a slightly citrusy, pine-like flavor that has a tingly numbing effect on your tongue when eaten fresh or in larger doses. When dried the shiny black seeds inside the brown husks have a distinctly gritty texture like sand, and since the husk is the part with the flavor I strongly recommend you pick out all the black seeds (labour intensive, but worth it).

    📖 Recipe

    Chinese Five Spice Powder

    5 from 3 votes
    Print Pin Discuss
    Prep Time 5 minutes mins
    Cook Time 5 minutes mins
    Total Time 10 minutes mins

    Units

    Ingredients 

    • 3 pods star anise
    • 20 whole cloves
    • 1 cinnamon stick (crumbled)
    • 1 tablespoon Sichuan pepper (husks only, remove any black seeds)
    • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
    • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
    • ½ teaspoon white peppercorns

    Instructions

    • Toast all the spices either in a hot pan or in a toaster oven being careful not to burn them. You'll know they're done when they start giving off a wonderful aroma.
    • Put the toasted spices in a spice grinder, a blender, or a food processor and blitz until it's ground into a fine powder.
    • Pass it through a fine mesh sieve to remove any big pieces and store in an airtight container until you're ready to use it.
    Recipes in your inboxDon't miss out SIGN UP!

    More Chinese (Traditional)

    • Aromatic ginger scallion oil takes this easy pan-fried chicken with crispy skin to the next level.
      Crispy Chicken with Ginger Scallion Sauce
    • Juicy sweet tomatoes stir-fried with creamy scrambled eggs over a bowl of rice.
      Chinese Tomato & Egg Stir-Fry
    • Plump juicy pieces of shrimp bound to crispy toast triangles with soft and flavorful shrimp paste.
      Crispy Shrimp Toast
    • Japanese-style spring rolls, or harumaki, are filled with meat, veggies, mushrooms, and a savory sauce.
      Harumaki

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Hi, I'm Marc Matsumoto, a retired chef living in Tokyo, and I founded No Recipes to empower home cooks of all levels by sharing essential techniques and my kitchen secrets.

    Start Here →

    Trending Recipes

    • Crisp juicy fried chicken glazed in a sweet and sour orange sauce that's redolent of fresh citrus thanks to a triple dose of orange.
      Orange Chicken
    • Dipping coconut fried shrimp in a orange chili sauce.
      Crispy Coconut Shrimp
    • Crispy panko chicken tenders served with lemon wedges and lettuce in a basket.
      Panko Chicken Tenders
    • Spicy and loaded with flavor, Kimchi Fried Rice is an easy meal that comes together from just a handful of ingredients.
      Kimchi Fried Rice
    • With creamy avocado and flavorful king crab, this California Roll recipe is easy and delicious!
      California Roll
    • Shrimp and Pork Shumai dumplings being picked up with chopsticks.
      Shumai

    Trending Categories

    • Fall
    • Japanese (Modern)
    • Japanese (Traditional)
    • Japanese (Chinese)
    • Stir Fry
    • Easy Weeknight

    Footer

    About

    • About
    • Help Me
    • Hire Me
    • Photography
    • FAQs

    Connect

    • Email Updates
    • Contact

    Legal

    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy

    Copyright © 2023 Marc Matsumoto. All rights reserved