What to do with Chinese 5 Spice

[pepperhead212]

I have tried some brands of 5-spice powder that I did not like at all, and threw the rest away! I love the flavor of anise, so it wasn't why I didn't like it, but just some unbalanced spice mixes, compared to others. Surprisingly, a favorite brand I found several years ago was made in Thailand. The only anise in this is the star anise, no fennel or licorice root.
https://importfood.com/products/thai-spices/item/chinese-five-spice

 

[taxlady]

Does anyone here make their own five spice powder? It looks easy enough to do and adjust to personal taste. The only thing I don't already have in my cupboard is the Szechuan pepper. Freshly ground spices would stay fresh a lot longer than a store bought blend.

 

[pepperhead212]

I've made it before, and some of the recipes didn't have Szechwan pepper in them, just black pepper, and they were good.

Here is a recipe I saw in the December 2019 Bon Appétit. Some unusual ingredients are optional, and probably not essential.
5-Spice Powder recipe

 

[taxlady]

I've made it before, and some of the recipes didn't have Szechwan pepper in them, just black pepper, and they were good.

Here is a recipe I saw in the December 2019 Bon Appétit. Some unusual ingredients are optional, and probably not essential.
5-Spice Powder recipe

Does one throw in the whole star anise or just the seeds?

 

[GotGarlic]

Does one throw in the whole star anise or just the seeds?

It says whole. I've never seen a recipe with star anise that calls for using just the seeds.

 

[taxlady]

It says whole. I've never seen a recipe with star anise that calls for using just the seeds.

I wasn't sure if that was meant just for measurement purposes. I may have misunderstood a previous recipe, but I ground just the seeds for something I made. It was a long time ago, so I don't remember details. The outside doesn't seem like it should go in, well, at least not to me.

 

[Linda0818]

I do the same. I think it's just a smart way to cook. Like you said, you can always add more - but you can't take it out [emoji38]

If you have a cucumber or something similar, just sprinkle a little bit on it and taste it that way. I'd add a tiny pinch of salt, too.

Hey, good idea.

And so true you can't take out what you've already put in. My MIL makes the best homemade potato soup. And one time while making the soup, she was out of black pepper. So she used white pepper in its place. White pepper is much stronger and spicier than black pepper and when we all sat down to a bowl, we took one bite and basically started coughing. The soup was inedible, she had to toss the whole pot.

I've over-seasoned things in the past as well, which is why I'm careful about using spices, especially those that I'm not familiar with.

 

[RCJoe]

5 Spice Italian Roast Beef

I used to buy this Italian Roast Beef at my Grocer's Deli. It was so good but so pricey. Over time I experimented with making my own and got close enough to it with this:

4 tsp sugar
3 1/3 tsp coarse sea salt or you may try kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp 5 spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cayenne red pepper
1 tsp ground ginger

mix well.

Use on Roast Cut of your choice. I apply a thin coating of dijon mustard to the meat and then allow it to sit in the fridge for 1/2 hour. Then pull it out and apply the rub so it will stick well. I cover the roast with a mixing bowl and allow it to sit in the fridge overnight.

This goes onto a roasting rack & then placed in a 250 degree oven to bake until 150 to 165 internal degree is temped with a thermometer, depending on your rare-well done preference.

Let the meat rest once removed from the oven before attempting to cut it or come to room temp before wrapping it and placing it in the fridge. Once cold it can be shaved thin more easily.

This favors a low and slow cooking.

 

[GotGarlic]

I wasn't sure if that was meant just for measurement purposes. I may have misunderstood a previous recipe, but I ground just the seeds for something I made. It was a long time ago, so I don't remember details. The outside doesn't seem like it should go in, well, at least not to me. [emoji38]

If you were supposed to remove the seeds and just use those, I think the recipe would have said that. It says toast the spices, let cool and grind to a powder. You won't get the full flavor if you don't.

 

[CWS4322]

Does anyone here make their own five spice powder? It looks easy enough to do and adjust to personal taste. The only thing I don't already have in my cupboard is the Szechuan pepper. Freshly ground spices would stay fresh a lot longer than a store bought blend.

I do. I only use whole spices and grind. The time to keep is recommended to be a month. I would buy a couple of star of anise at Bulk Barn and use those for my 5-spice. I got the Szechuan pepper at Bulk Barn, too. Fennel seeds, well, those I always kept on hand.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

This is a tasty chop suey recipe
Add cruspy noodles and it becomes chow mein, soft noodles for lo mein

2 chicken breasts, or pork chops
1 yellow onion, peeled and slicef into strips
1 tbs. High-temp cooking oil
2 tbs. Dark sesame oil
8 oz. Sliced button mushrooms
2 tbs. real soy sauce
2 tbs rice whine vinager
1 cup fresh, washed bean sprouts.
2 carrots, bias sliced
1 stalk celery, bias sliced
1 can sliced water chestnuts (optioal)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. 5-spice powder
2 tsp. sugar
2 tbs. corn starch

Cut the meat into strips.
Heat cooking oil in large wok, or heavy skillet. Add carrot, celery, onion, garlic, and mushrooms. Stir-fry over high heat unti veggies are slightly cooked, but still crunchy. Add the meat and cook unti the meat is just done. Add the soy sauce, sugar, 5-spice powder, and vinegar.

Mix the corn starch with 3 tbs. cold water to make a slurry. Pour the slurry into the wok and stir to coat all. The resultant sauce should bee the consistancy of gravy.
Add the sesame oil. Taste and adjust seasonings.
Add the bean sprouts, stir to combine, cover and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Searve with jasmine rice.

Seeeeya, Chief Longwind Of the North

 

[Linda0818]

This is a tasty chop suey recipe
Add cruspy noodles and it becomes chow mein, soft noodles for lo mein

2 chicken breasts, or pork chops
1 yellow onion, peeled and slicef into strips
1 tbs. High-temp cooking oil
2 tbs. Dark sesame oil
8 oz. Sliced button mushrooms
2 tbs. real soy sauce
2 tbs rice whine vinager
1 cup fresh, washed bean sprouts.
2 carrots, bias sliced
1 stalk celery, bias sliced
1 can sliced water chestnuts (optioal)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. 5-spice powder
2 tsp. sugar
2 tbs. corn starch

Cut the meat into strips.
Heat cooking oil in large wok, or heavy skillet. Add carrot, celery, onion, garlic, and mushrooms. Stir-fry over high heat unti veggies are slightly cooked, but still crunchy. Add the meat and cook unti the meat is just done. Add the soy sauce, sugar, 5-spice powder, and vinegar.

Mix the corn starch with 3 tbs. cold water to make a slurry. Pour the slurry into the wok and stir to coat all. The resultant sauce should bee the consistancy of gravy.
Add the sesame oil. Taste and adjust seasonings.
Add the bean sprouts, stir to combine, cover and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Searve with jasmine rice.

Seeeeya, Chief Longwind Of the North

Love Chop Suey. I also love Chicken Chow Mein. That's one Chinese dish I did make at home and it was delicious. I took a pic of it when I was making it and after plating it. I don't recall if the recipe had 5 Spice or not, but the sauce made me want to lick my plate, it was so good. I hope I kept that recipe somewhere.

 

[strmanglr scott]

This came up on my "recommended" you tube and I played it. I didn't know it ahead of time, but he uses the 5 spice blend and names the 5.

https://youtu.be/16RN927ZWsY

 

[Linda0818]

This came up on my "recommended" you tube and I played it. I didn't know it ahead of time, but he uses the 5 spice blend and names the 5.

https://youtu.be/16RN927ZWsY

Thanks, I'll give it a look. I enjoy watching cooking videos.

 

[CWS4322]

I've made it before, and some of the recipes didn't have Szechwan pepper in them, just black pepper, and they were good.

Here is a recipe I saw in the December 2019 Bon Appétit. Some unusual ingredients are optional, and probably not essential.
5-Spice Powder recipe

The use of "dried sand ginger" threw me for a loop. That, at least where I live, is not easy to find (or even know what it is). Now I know, I am on the hunt.

 

[GotGarlic]

I've made it before, and some of the recipes didn't have Szechwan pepper in them, just black pepper, and they were good.

Here is a recipe I saw in the December 2019 Bon Appétit. Some unusual ingredients are optional, and probably not essential.
5-Spice Powder recipe

Szechuan peppercorns were not allowed to be imported into the United States between 1968 and 2005 because they could carry the citrus canker virus, so recipes using alternatives were developed during that time.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I made beef jerly and added 5-spice to the brine. It came out very tasty. Here's what I put in it, sans measurements.

1 minced onion
Granulated garli powder
Kikoman reduced sodium soy sauce
Sugar
Mollases powder
Blak pepper
Cinese 5-spice powder
Water

I started with the soy sauce and then the sugar, then the remainig indredients, tasting as I went. I purposely made it too strong, then diluted with the water to make it taste right. I sliced an inside roind into very thin slices, and put the into a zipper bag. I worked the meat and onion in to distribute. The brine was then added and worked through the meat. Rifrigerated overnight. Cooked
at 170' F. 503 3 hours. Turned the meat strips ove, and cooked for 3 more hours.

The jerky came out tasty, not quite a teryaki flavor, but ispired by that marnade. I didn't add the vinigar as I wanted the flavors to permeate the meat strips, which it did. A little liquid smoke would have been good, but I didn't have any. So that's another good application of 5-spice.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[pepperhead212]

Szechuan peppercorns were not allowed to be imported into the United States between 1968 and 2005 because they could carry the citrus canker virus, so recipes using alternatives were developed during that time.

I always thought this was strange, that they had been banned way back in 1968 (long before I knew what they were!), because it wasn't until the late 90s that I didn't see them in Asian markets. Fortunately, I had stocked up on them, when they disappeared. About the same time the Kaffir lime leaves were banned from import, also due to diseases, which is when I had to start growing them. I was thinking of doing the same with Szechwan peppercorns, but eventually, they started importing them again.

 

[RCJoe]

Found a link to this site on an old jump drive. If you are thinking about using 5 spice on a roast beef/eye of round this may interest you. I think Boars Head was the Deli Brand I used to be able to get at one time.

I purchased some other the other day at $11.50 a pound. About 4 slices cost me $2.60.

Make Your Own Deli-Style Roast Beef - The Hungry Mouse

 

[CraigC]

Since our tastes have turned to Korean, Vietnamese and Thai, I can't remember the last time we used Chinese 5 spice powder. We haven't run across any recipes in those cuisines that call for it.