five star five spice powder
December 8, 2008
There’s nothing like biting into a star anise pod when enjoying a savory pork that has been braising for hours in this special Asian blend of spices. That is one not-so-fond memory of my childhood. My mom made everything from scratch and she never owned a Cuisinart let alone a spice grinder. When I say from scratch, I even recall helping her mince up shrimp and pork with a super dull knife for an hour to make wontons. Though the food was as fresh as can be and always good, we would devour our food and then be bitterly surprised by biting full force into either a slab of whole ginger or a star anise or some other Chinese spice thing that tasted more like medicine than food. bleck.
Here’s a way to avoid the nastiness of biting into a star anise and something I just tried for the first time, making my own five spice powder, by roasting spices and freshly grinding them. The home made mixture will last about two months in an airtight container and is well worth the extra effort. This is the spice mixture that reminds me of my childhood.
I did some light research on what exactly five spice is made up of. After reading some other sites and blogs, it seemed to be a consensus that fennel was not the absolute necessity and replacing it with cumin was a nice balance. The star anise already provides such a strong fennel, licorice flavor that more fennel seed would almost be overkill.
This whole time I thought “Five Spice” was a blend of five exact spices and most store bought ones will stick to that idea as well. If you are a true foodie, you will love to know that the “Five” in Five spice is actually referring to the balance of the five basic elements of chi (the life energy): earth, wind, fire, water, and metal. Five spice powder was originally used in Chinese Medicine. How zen.
As you can see, the spice blend is actually more like 7-8 spices. I just finished making a huge batch of the spice blend as one of my holiday home made gifts. The smell, while roasting the spices and then grinding them, was so pungent and intense.
Here’s a manageable recipe portion. All you need to remember is that the amounts are done proportionally by weight, so if you want to make a bigger batch, go by weight.
The four spices, star anise, sichuan peppers, cinnamon, cumin seed, are all used in the same amount. Next, the clove is used at half the amount of one of these, then coriander and nutmeg and black cardamon are used at a quarter the amount of one of the main spices.
wallFlour five spice
1) 4 oz (120g) star anise
2) 4 oz (120g) sichuan peppers (not the same as regular peppercorns, try not to substitute)
3) 4 oz (120g) cinnamon
4) 4 oz (120g) cumin seed
5) 2 oz (60g) clove
6) 1 oz (30g) coriander
7) 1 oz (30g) nutmeg
1 oz (30g) black cardamon (optional)
The spices can be roasted individually in a skillet over medium heat or on a baking sheet in an oven at 350˚F.
I choose to do large amounts in the oven but one can just do them on the stove top, in a clean, oil-free, skillet. They all have varying times for when they are toasted up nicely. Any of the larger pods and whole nutmeg take a bit longer.
After all the spices have been properly toasted, let them cool. Toasting the spices first really allows the aromas to open up more.Then, using a small grinder dedicated to spices (Bosch is a good cheapie), start grinding everything up. Make sure to mix up the ground batches so everything is even.
production line for my holiday gift of 5-spice
hours later- spices have been ground in batches and mixed, ready for bottling.
Because it embodies sour, bitter, sweet, earthy, and savory, the blend works well on very different items. Of course, my favorite is on slow cooked pork, but it’s also great as a dry rub on other meats for the grill, or on fish and seafood. For my veggie friends, I have also heard its great sprinkled on squash and other full bodied veggies before roasting them. i’ve heard….
Now you are ready to have a fabulous dinner party of some slow braised pork. It’s a very simple dish but the intensity of all the flavors makes is seem much more complex. Don’t let the Asian factor limit what you can do with this spice.
I love coming up with slightly off beat ways to serve the pork with a side of unexpected potato gratin or on top of papperadelle noodles. I think that’s what they call fusion.
wallFlour tips:
When making large batches, stick to the spice grinder/ coffee maker. I tried using the food processor and it just made a mess and never got as finely ground.
Store up to 2 months in an airtight container.
When toasting or roasting the spices it’s about 10-20 minutes at medium heat, depending on the density of the spice. Just make sure they don’t burn!
There’s nothing like biting into a star anise pod when enjoying a savory pork that has been braising for hours in this special Asian blend of spices. That is one not-so-fond memory of my childhood. My mom made everything from scratch and she never owned a Cuisinart let alone a spice grinder. When I say from scratch, I even recall helping her mince up shrimp and pork with a super dull knife for an hour to make wontons. Though the food was as fresh as can be and always good, we would devour our food and then be bitterly surprised by biting full force into either a slab of whole ginger or a star anise or some other Chinese spice thing that tasted more like medicine than food. bleck.
Here’s a way to avoid the nastiness of biting into a star anise and something I just tried for the first time, making my own five spice powder, by roasting spices and freshly grinding them. The home made mixture will last about two months in an airtight container and is well worth the extra effort. This is the spice mixture that reminds me of my childhood.
I did some light research on what exactly five spice is made up of. After reading some other sites and blogs, it seemed to be a consensus that fennel was not the absolute necessity and replacing it with cumin was a nice balance. The star anise already provides such a strong fennel, licorice flavor that more fennel seed would almost be overkill.
This whole time I thought “Five Spice” was a blend of five exact spices and most store bought ones will stick to that idea as well. If you are a true foodie, you will love to know that the “Five” in Five spice is actually referring to the balance of the five basic elements of chi (the life energy): earth, wind, fire, water, and metal. Five spice powder was originally used in Chinese Medicine. How zen.
As you can see, the spice blend is actually more like 7-8 spices. I just finished making a huge batch of the spice blend as one of my holiday home made gifts. The smell, while roasting the spices and then grinding them, was so pungent and intense.
Here’s a manageable recipe portion. All you need to remember is that the amounts are done proportionally by weight, so if you want to make a bigger batch, go by weight.
The four spices, star anise, sichuan peppers, cinnamon, cumin seed, are all used in the same amount. Next, the clove is used at half the amount of one of these, then coriander and nutmeg and black cardamon are used at a quarter the amount of one of the main spices.
wallFlour five spice
1) 4 oz (120g) star anise
2) 4 oz (120g) sichuan peppers (not the same as regular peppercorns, try not to substitute)
3) 4 oz (120g) cinnamon
4) 4 oz (120g) cumin seed
5) 2 oz (60g) clove
6) 1 oz (30g) coriander
7) 1 oz (30g) nutmeg
1 oz (30g) black cardamon (optional)
The spices can be roasted individually in a skillet over medium heat or on a baking sheet in an oven at 350˚F.
I choose to do large amounts in the oven but one can just do them on the stove top, in a clean, oil-free, skillet. They all have varying times for when they are toasted up nicely. Any of the larger pods and whole nutmeg take a bit longer.
After all the spices have been properly toasted, let them cool. Toasting the spices first really allows the aromas to open up more.Then, using a small grinder dedicated to spices (Bosch is a good cheapie), start grinding everything up. Make sure to mix up the ground batches so everything is even.
production line for my holiday gift of 5-spice
hours later- spices have been ground in batches and mixed, ready for bottling.
Because it embodies sour, bitter, sweet, earthy, and savory, the blend works well on very different items. Of course, my favorite is on slow cooked pork, but it’s also great as a dry rub on other meats for the grill, or on fish and seafood. For my veggie friends, I have also heard its great sprinkled on squash and other full bodied veggies before roasting them. i’ve heard….
Now you are ready to have a fabulous dinner party of some slow braised pork. It’s a very simple dish but the intensity of all the flavors makes is seem much more complex. Don’t let the Asian factor limit what you can do with this spice.
I love coming up with slightly off beat ways to serve the pork with a side of unexpected potato gratin or on top of papperadelle noodles. I think that’s what they call fusion.
wallFlour tips:
When making large batches, stick to the spice grinder/ coffee maker. I tried using the food processor and it just made a mess and never got as finely ground.
Store up to 2 months in an airtight container.
When toasting or roasting the spices it’s about 10-20 minutes at medium heat, depending on the density of the spice. Just make sure they don’t burn!
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