Easy Chinese 5 Spice Powder Recipe
A quick and easy Chinese 5 Spice Powder Recipe, so you always have the freshest and most powerful spices on hand to make Chinese food!
Servings: 1 Half Cup
Calories: 30kcal
Equipment
- mortar and pestle OR coffee/ spice blender
- Thin bottom pan and heat-proof spatula Don't use a heavy bottom pan or it will take a long time to toast the spices.
- sieve
Ingredients
- 4 Star anise Look for broken pieces as it makes the pounding easier
- 1.5 teaspoon sichuan peppercorns Substitute: white peppcorns
- 1 casssia stick (Chinese cinnamon) (about 1-2g) Substitute: Ceylon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- ½ teaspoon cloves
Instructions
- Over low-medium heat, dry fry the spices in a pan till their fragrance is released.
- Blitz the spices in a coffee or spice grinder. If you don't have one, you can also pound them by hand in a mortar and pestle. (This took me 9 minutes 52 seconds so it's not too time consuming.)
- Sieve the powder to remove any bigger bits
- Store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place till you want to use it.
Notes
5 spice powder isn't strictly a 5 spice powder- some recipes use more than 5 spices actually. You can experiment with other variations by adding other ingredients such as anise seed, ginger root, nutmeg, sand ginger, turmeric, Amomum villosum pods (shārén 砂仁), Amomum cardamomum pods (báidòukòu 白豆蔻), licorice, Chinese dry tangerine peel or galangal.
Do not use a blender- unless there is a special spice blade, it'll damage your blender and the result will be uneven and gritty.
Note: the nutritional information is an estimate automatically calculated using the WPRM recipe maker and I am not responsible for its veracity.
Nutrition
Calories: 30kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 4mg | Potassium: 112mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 0.1g | Vitamin A: 26IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 88mg | Iron: 2mg