Have you ever heard of Chinese Five Spice Powder for cooking? It’s a sweet but warm spice with a hint of licorice-like flavor. Add a bold and flavorful zing to any dish with this powder, such as crispy salt and pepper tofu, crispy Taiwanese-style popcorn mushrooms, or Chinese chive pies or pockets (韭菜盒子).
You don’t have to buy one in the store since you can make it yourself at home!
Follow my recipe to make your very own homemade Chinese Five Spice mix.
- What Is Chinese Five Spice?
- How Do I Use Chinese Five Spice?
- How To Store Homemade Chinese Five Spice
- Tips To Make Chinese Five Spice
- What You Need To Make Chinese Five Spice
- How To Make Chinese Five Spice
What Is Chinese Five Spice?
Before we dive into the recipe, let’s get to know more about Chinese Five Spice first.
Here’s a fun fact – Chinese Five Spice (五香粉) was created based on the five traditional Chinese elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water.
The mixture is usually made with five spices but can be more if desired. Generally, Chinese Five Spice is made up of the following:
- Star anise (八角)
- Chinese cinnamon (肉桂)
- Fennel seeds (小茴香)
- Szechuan peppercorns (花椒)
- Cloves (丁香)
With all the combined spices, it represents the five Chinese elements with its flavors: sweet, sour, salty, savory, and bitter.
In my recipe, we’re also going to add some bay leaves for a note of thyme and oregano flavors.
You get its licorice-like flavor with the star anise, notes of pepper with Szechuan peppercorns, a subtle bitterness with cloves, and sweet and earthy flavors with cinnamon and fennel.
Making this spice powder is super easy in just two simple steps! Simply toast all the ingredients together and grind until you get a fine powder consistency. You’ll be using Chinese Five Spice often for Chinese and Taiwanese recipes.
How Do I Use Chinese Five Spice?
Without a doubt, you won’t be leaving your Chinese Five Spice untouched since you can use it in several ways. It can be used as a spice rub or an add-on ingredient in dishes and seasonings. It’s also suitable as a coating or topping.
Spice up any dish with warm, sweet, and slightly spicy flavors of Chinese Five Spice.
Here are some ideas on how you can use Chinese Five Spice:
- Use it to make chili oil. Some homemade chili oil recipes include this spice.
- Add it to various dishes such as crispy scallion pancakes, salt and pepper tofu, Taiwanese-style popcorn mushrooms, or Chinese chive pies or pockets (韭菜盒子).
- Make your plain rice tastier by topping it with Chinese Five Spice powder.
- Rub it on meat or vegetables for added aroma and flavor.
- Use it as a coating for nuts or stir-fry dishes.
- Add it to a breading mixture for fried dishes such as fried chicken or tofu.
- Mix it with the marinade of a dish.
- Use it to make the popular salt and pepper seasoning.
How To Store Homemade Chinese Five Spice
After making your homemade Chinese Five Spice, store it in an airtight spice jar or sealed container. Make sure it is stored in the cupboard or any place where it is away from heat and sunlight.
This spice mixture can last up to six months or more! So, it’s okay to make large batches of this recipe.
Tips To Make Chinese Five Spice
Before making this spice powder, here are some tips and suggestions to help you easily execute the recipe. Check out some of my recommended alternatives for kitchen items and ingredients.
- You’ll need a spice grinder to grind and blend smoothly the spices into fine powder. If you don’t have one, you can also use a coffee grinder or food processor to grind them. As a last resort, a blender would also work just as fine if it is a high-power blender, or else you may not be able to achieve a powder-like result.
- The steps in my recipe include toasting the spices before grinding. If you want to lessen the preparation time, you can skip the toasting step and proceed to grind all the ingredients together. However, I highly recommend toasting the spices first before grinding them for a bolder flavor.
- You can use any type of pan for toasting, such as a cast iron skillet, wok, or non-stick pan.
- After grinding the ingredients, I suggest using a fine mesh strainer to sift the coarse powder. This will help you have an even consistency and produce a finer powder. After separating the coarse powder, you can grind the fine powder you have gathered once more for a finer result.
- Szechuan peppercorns have a different kind of spice. You don’t get the kind of heat like regular black peppercorns, but Szechuan peppercorn is more of a numbing spice. It also has a unique aroma and floral flavor with a hint of lemon. If you don’t have Szechuan peppercorns, I don’t really suggest using black peppercorns as a substitute since it does not have the same effect as Szechuan peppercorns. Instead, you can leave Szechuan peppercorns out of the recipe, and it will still give you the ideal flavor and sensation of Chinese Five Spice powder.
- You can use ground anise instead of a whole star anise. A whole star anise is equivalent to 1/2 tsp of ground anise.
- If you don’t have cloves, you can use allspice or a mix of cinnamon and nutmeg as a substitute.
What You Need To Make Chinese Five Spice
After taking note of my suggestions above, here are all the things you need to prepare to start making the recipe. Although a spice grinder is the best option, you can still use other similar kitchen appliances such as a food processor and blender. You may have to go to a special grocery store to acquire some of the ingredients, such as star anise, Chinese cinnamon, and fennel seeds.
Kitchen Items
- Pan or skillet
- Spatula
- Spice grinder
- Kitchen weighing scale
- Spice jar or container
Ingredients
- 20g Star anise
- 5g Chinese cinnamon
- 15g Fennel seeds
- 12 Szechuan peppercorns
- 5g Cloves
- 3g Bay leaves
How To Make Chinese Five Spice
Got everything you need? Great! Let’s start making homemade Chinese Five Spice powder. The recipe is simple and easy to follow. Toast all the spices in a pan and grind them all together. That’s it!
Use a kitchen weighing scale to precisely measure each ingredient according to the recipe’s recommended quantities:
- 20g Star anise
- 5g Chinese cinnamon
- 15g Fennel seeds
- 12 Szechuan peppercorns
- 5g Cloves
- 3g Bay leaves
Break the star anise and cinnamon into smaller pieces.
Put the bits of star anise and cinnamon into a pan and toast for 1 to 2 minutes.
Then, add fennel seeds, Szechuan peppercorns, cloves, and bay leaves into the pan and toast for an additional 10 minutes on low heat.
When toasting the ingredients, stir continuously to avoid burning them. Next, turn off the heat and let it cool on a plate or container.
Once the ingredients are cool and dry, place all the ingredients in a spice grinder and grind until you are left with fine powder.
Store it in an airtight spice jar or container and start cooking your favorite dishes with it.
Homemade Chinese Five Spice Powder
Equipment
- Pan or skillet
- Spatula
- Spice grinder
- Kitchen weighing scale
- Spice jar or container
Ingredients
- 20 g Star anise
- 5 g Chinese cinnamon
- 15 g Fennel seeds
- 12 Szechuan peppercorns
- 1.5 g Cloves
- 3 g Bay leaves
Instructions
- Use a kitchen weighing scale to precisely measure each ingredient according to the recipe's recommended quantities: 20g Star anise, 5g Chinese cinnamon, 15g Fennel seeds, 12g Szechuan peppercorns, 1.5g Cloves, 3g Bay leaves
- Break the star anise and cinnamon into smaller pieces.
- Put the bits of star anise and cinnamon into a pan and toast for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Then, add fennel seeds, Szechuan peppercorns, cloves, and bay leaves into the pan and toast for an additional 10 minutes on low heat.
- When toasting the ingredients, stir continuously to avoid burning them.
- Next, turn off the heat and let it cool on a plate or container.
- Once the ingredients are cool and dry, place all the ingredients in a spice grinder and grind until you are left with fine powder.
- Store it in an airtight spice jar or container and start cooking your favorite dishes with it.
