Chinese five spice is readily available in most grocery stores these days. Authentic Chinese five spice is also simple to make at home, though you may not typically keep all the ingredients on hand. Five spice powder has a warming flavor with hints of licorice and is quite common in Chinese cuisine.
If the ingredients are staples you may not generally keep in stock, why make your own homemade Chinese five spice then? This will depend on how often you enjoy making Chinese and other Asian dishes at home. If you do enjoy making those kinds of dishes, you’re more likely to also have the ingredients stocked up already.
Like most homemade seasoning and rub recipes, making them yourself insures they are fresh, and you can tailor the ratios to suit your family’s preferences. When you cook a lot of certain cuisines, you’re also more likely to have the ingredients on hand, which means making your own seasoning and spice blends are also less expensive. Homemade seasoning blends also omit the typical anti-caking agents that commercially made blends contain.
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📜 What is Chinese Five Spice?
Although referred to as “five” spice, Chinese five spice is not always limited to just 5 specific spices. Also known as wǔxiāng fěn (五香粉, this Chinese spice blend is found throughout different Chinese regional cuisines.
The seasoning has a bit of a warming flavor, almost like pumpkin pie spice, but the predominant flavor and smell is close to licorice because of the star anise. If Szechuan peppercorn is used, it can also leave a tingling feeling, but the spice is does not use ingredients that would make it spicy.
The most common ingredients in almost all versions of Chinese five spice include star anise, Chinese cinnamon, fennel seed, and cloves. The fifth addition, or even sixth or seventh addition, tend to include things like Szechuan (Sichuan) peppercorn, white pepper, sand ginger, cardamom, licorice, nutmeg, dried orange peel, and other options.
A little less common, and with harder to source ingredients, there is also a seasoning known as Chinese thirteen spice. It includes almost everything listed above, as well as some other additions like amomum fruit, angelica, and costus root.
🥘 Ingredients for Chinese Five Spice
As mentioned above, most authentic Chinese five spice blends always contain the same four main ingredients, and a few options for the fifth ingredient. I’ll go over the main ones first, and list a few of the commonly used optional ingredients. Feel free to use 6-7 total ingredients if you wish.
Star Anise – Popular in many Indian, Chinese, and other Asian dishes, star anise has a flavor like licorice. While the flavor is like aniseed, they are not interchangeable. Most grocery stores carry star anise, though you may need to check in the international aisle or for brands like Badia.
Cinnamon – Chinese cinnamon, also called cassia cinnamon, is very common to find. Most of the cinnamon sold in the US and other places is derived from cassia. If you can find pieces of cassia bark, that works best, but standard cinnamon quills or ground cinnamon is fine too.
Fennel Seed – Similar in taste to anise and licorice root, fennel seed gives a slightly sweeter and licorice flavor as well. Like star anise, fennel seed isn’t interchangeable with aniseed.
Clove – Cloves have a very distinct and strong flavor and aroma. Because of this, they make up the smallest ratio in this spice blend. You can use either whole or ground cloves here.
Szechuan Peppercorn – If only using 5 spices, this is my preference for the last addition. Szechuan, or Sichuan, peppercorns are not actually related to peppercorns or pepper plants, they’re actually a dried berry. Commonly used in Chinese and other cuisines, Sichuan peppercorns add a slight tingling and numbing sensation.
Ginger – When used in Chinese five spice, sand ginger is traditionally the ingredient used. Sand ginger is more closely related to galangal than regular ginger. If you can’t find sand ginger, ground galangal is the closest substitute, but you can also just use regular ground ginger.
White Pepper – Another common addition to this spice blend is white pepper. Use whole white peppercorns or ground white pepper if you wish, about the same ratio as cloves.
🔪 How to Make Chinese 5 Spice
Take any spices you have that are whole and place them into a small skillet. Set over medium heat and toast them, stirring occasionally, until fragrant. Remove them from the pan and allow them to cool to room temperature.
Using a spice grinder, or coffee grinder, add the whole spices and blend for 3-5 seconds. Shake the container and blend again for 3-5 seconds. Add any ground spices you’re using and pulse the grinder a few times to mix thoroughly.
Optionally, you can sift the spices through a fine mesh strainer to remove any small chunks that weren’t fully blended.
Pour the Chinese five spice blend into an airtight container and use as instructed in any recipe that calls for it.
Five Spice Ratio
As is, this recipe makes exactly ⅓ cup of Chinese five spice. The spice bottle I use that is shown in some of the photos could easily hold double what this recipe makes. If you wish to increase the amount you make, just remember the ratios that are used to make the base.
Since star anise and fennel seed both contribute a licorice flavor, I prefer to make this with equal parts star anise and cinnamon. You can flip that and do equal parts star anise and fennel seed instead, however. One standard cinnamon stick (quill) typically makes about 2 tablespoons ground, which is also why I keep it equal with the star anise.
- 1 part ground star anise
- 1 part ground cinnamon
- ½ part ground fennel seed
- ½ part ground Szechuan peppercorn
- ⅙ part ground clove
- ⅙ part ground white pepper (optional)
- ½ part ground ginger (optional)
Keep in mind any of the other ingredients mentioned earlier should also be used about as much as clove if they are equally pungent, such as nutmeg or cardamom. The above ratios are based on 2 tablespoons being 1 part and the rest are diminished by volume, i.e. one teaspoon is one-sixth of two tablespoons.
🥗 How to Use Chinese 5 Spice
Chinese five spice can be quite potent, so it is typically used sparingly in small amount to most dishes. It pairs well with fatty meats, but also works great with vegetables and even baked desserts. The spice is usually used in spice rubs and marinades or sprinkled over stir-fried vegetables and dishes.
Dry Rub – Use it as a dry rub in popular recipes like 5 Spice Chicken or roasted pork belly, or for Peking duck, Cantonese roasted duck, or roasted chicken. Try it on normal recipes like chicken wings or when making baked or fried chicken, or for a spice rub on next year’s Thanksgiving turkey.
Marinade – Use Chinese five spice in marinades, such as the popular pork Char Sui, or chicken or rib char sui.
Stir-Fry – The spice adds lots of flavor to various stir-fry dishes and stir-fried vegetables. Add it to noodle dishes like Taiwanese beef noodles.
Desserts – Try some five spice powder in recipes like gingerbread, snickerdoodles, apple pie, pumpkin spice muffins, and other recipes that typically include similar spices.
🍽 Recommended Equipment
You don’t need special equipment to make most homemade spices, but I’d like to mention these two products to make things easier.
Spice Grinder – I love my spice grinder for blending small batches of whole spices and herbs. A coffee bean grinder works as well. Some blenders can do the job, but usually only expensive models make enough vortex to really grind spices into a powder.
Spice Jars – I love my spice jars and spice racks in my kitchen. These spice jars are what I use, and I’ve bought and made my own labels for them also.
❄️ Storing Five Spice
Like most homemade seasoning blends and spices, homemade Chinese five spice should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature. I prefer using glass bottles or jars like the ones I listed above. Keeping spices out of direct light can also prolong their freshness.
While the seasoning should keep almost indefinitely, the spice powder will slowly lose its potency over time. Depending on how fresh the ingredients you used were, it should easily last 6 months to a year before losing flavor.
📋 Recipe
Authentic Chinese Five Spice
Ingredients
- 5-6 star anise pods, 2 tablespoons ground
- 1 cassia cinnamon stick, 2 tablespoons ground
- 1 tablespoon fennel seed
- 1 tablespoon Szechuan peppercorns, or ground
- 1 teaspoon whole cloves, or ground
Directions
- Take any spices you have that are whole and place them into a small skillet. Set over medium heat and toast them, stirring occasionally, until fragrant. Remove them from the pan and allow them to cool to room temperature.
- Using a spice grinder, or coffee grinder, add the whole spices and blend for 3-5 seconds. Shake the container and blend again for 3-5 seconds. Add any ground spices you’re using and pulse the grinder a few times to mix thoroughly.
- Optionally, you can sift the spices through a fine mesh strainer to remove any small chunks that weren’t fully blended.
Equipment Used
Notes
- Toasting & Grinding – The reason for letting the ingredients cool after toasting, and not just grinding everything until it’s a powder, is so that you don’t accidentally give everything a burnt flavor. Toasting and grinding hot spices until powdered can make them too hot and turn the flavors bitter. It can also burn out some of the flavor compounds you want in the seasoning.
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