Five-spice powder () is a spice mixture of five or more spices—commonly star anise, cloves, Chinese cinnamon,

Sichuan pepper Sichuan pepper (, also known as Sichuanese pepper, Szechuan pepper, Chinese prickly ash, Chinese pepper, Mountain pepper, and ''mala'' pepper, is a spice commonly used in Sichuan cuisine in China, Bhutan and in northeast India. It is called mej ...

, and fennel seeds—used predominantly in almost all branches of

Chinese cuisine Chinese cuisine comprises cuisines originating from Greater China, China, as well as from Overseas Chinese, Chinese people from other parts of the world. Because of the Chinese diaspora and the historical power of the country, Chinese cuisine ...

. The five flavors of the spices reflect the five traditional Chinese elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water) and flavors (sweet, bitter, sour, salty, and savory). The addition of eight other spices creates (), which is used less commonly.

Ingredients

While there are many variants, a common mix is:Chinese Five Spice
at The Epicentre * Star anise (''bājiǎo'' 八角) *

Fennel Fennel (''Foeniculum vulgare'') is a flowering plant species in the carrot family. It is a hardy, perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. It is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean but has become widely naturalized ...

seeds (''xiǎohuíxiāng'' 小茴香) * Cloves (''dīngxiāng'' 丁香) * Chinese cinnamon (''ròuguì'' 肉桂) *

(''huājiāo'' 花椒) Other recipes may contain anise seed, ginger root, nutmeg, turmeric, '' Amomum villosum'' pods (''shārén'' ), ''Amomum cardamomum'' pods (''báidòukòu'' ), licorice, Mandarin orange peel or galangal. In Southern China, '' Cinnamomum loureiroi'' and Mandarin orange peel are commonly used as substitutes for ''

Cinnamomum cassia ''Cinnamomum cassia'', called Chinese cassia or Chinese cinnamon, is an evergreen tree originating in southern China and widely cultivated there and elsewhere in South and Southeast Asia. It is one of several species of ''Cinnamomum'' used prim ...

'' and cloves respectively. These ingredients collectively produce southern five-spice powders' distinctive, slightly different flavor profile.

Use

Five-spice powder is used as a spice rub for chicken, duck, goose, pork, and seafood, in red cooking recipes, or added to the breading for fried foods. Five-spice powder is used in recipes for

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

roasted duck, as well as beef stew. Canned spiced pork cubes are very popular as well. Five-spice powder is used as a marinade for Vietnamese broiled chicken. The five-spice powder mixture has followed the Chinese diaspora and has been incorporated into other national cuisines throughout Asia. In

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, some restaurants place a shaker of the spice on each patron's table. A seasoned salt can be easily made by dry-roasting common

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

with five-spice powder under low heat in a dry pan until the spice and salt are well mixed. Five-spice powder can also add complexity and savoriness to sweets and savory dishes alike. It has a traditional use as an antiseptic and a cure for indigestion. In one study, the potential antioxidant capacities of Chinese five-spice powder (consisting of Sichuan pepper, fennel seed, cinnamon, star anise, and clove) with varying proportion of individual spice ingredients was investigated through four standard methods. The results suggest that clove is the major contributor to the high antioxidant capacities of the five-spice powder, whereas the other four ingredients contribute only to the flavor.

References

External links

{{Cantonese cuisine Cantonese cuisine Herb and spice mixtures Food powders

Ingredients

Use

See also

References

External links