What Five Spices Make up Chinese Five Spice? (2024)

FAQs

What Five Spices Make up Chinese Five Spice? ›

Typically, it's a blend that includes star anise, cloves, common (Chinese or cassia) cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorn, and fennel in ground form in various proportions.

5 spice is a combination of cinnamon, star anise, fennel seeds and cloves – the 5th ingredient can vary across recipes, we use sichuan peppercorns. But ginger and white pepper are also commonly used as the fifth component.

This Chinese spice blend, now used in much of East Asia and Southeast Asia, represents the five elements in Chinese culture of earth, wood, fire, metal and water as well as the five flavors of sour, bitter, sweet, salty and pungent.

Five spice is a mix of fennel, clove, anise, cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorn (some Chinese add several other spices, considering “five spice” more of a concept than a hard rule). Allspice is ground up pimento berry… while it reminds of several other spices it's actually just a single spice.

The components of the mix are thought to represent the five classical flavours of traditional Chinese cuisine: salty, bitter, aromatic, sweet, and sour. Although exact proportions vary, it is generally accepted in Chinese culture that five spice is a balancing act on the tongue.

At first glance seven spice powder may sound like a variant on Chinese five spice powder, but they couldn't be more different. Or rather, they're exactly as different as their native cuisines. Five spice, fragrant with sweet and spicy anise flavors, is the perfect compliment to meaty Chinese braises and barbecues.

Chinese 5 spice is one of the most famous flavor in culinary world. Using this spice will give your cooking an Asian and Middle East taste. The combination of cinnamon, star anise, fennel seed, Sichuan pepper, and cloves creates an amazing sweet and spicy taste in the incredible fragrance.

Turmeric, cinnamon, paprika, ground coriander, black pepper, cayenne, and cumin make up the core of the seven spice blend. Garam masala is also added to supplement these 7 spices and provide a backdrop.

McCormick Culinary Chinese Five Spice is kosher and made with no added MSG.

What is Korean five spice? ›

A common mix for ground five-spice powder (center) is (clockwise from top left) cinnamon, fennel seeds, star anise, Sichuan peppercorns and cloves. While there are many variants, a common mix is: Star anise (bājiǎo 八角) Cloves (dīngxiāng 丁香)

It is made by grinding star anise and fennel and pepper and cloves and cinnamon. Five spice is used well with fatty meats like pork and duck. It is used in stir fried vegetables and as a spice rub for chicken, duck, pork and seafood.

Spanish Paprika and Cayenne Pepper: Use 3/4 teaspoon of a mild Spanish paprika and about 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper for each teaspoon Piment d'Espelette called for. Taste and add more cayenne if you wish.

In the culinary arts, five spice (also known as Chinese five spice) is a blend of ground spices used in Chinese and Vietnamese cooking.

The blend's sweet and bitter notes lend themselves well to rich and fatty foods. Pork is a natural pairing for these flavors, especially ribs, pork belly, Char siu pork, and ground pork dishes like mapo tofu.

To start with, Chinese five spice is Chinese in origin. Seven spice powder is Japanese, and also called shichimi togarashi. Unlike Five Spice, Seven spice's foundation is comprised of chilis, dried orange peel, sesame seed, dried ginger, and seaweed, as well as Sichuan peppercorns.

It is like an upgrade version of Five Spices, meaning it has a deeper, profound flavor profile. Thirteen Spices has similar function as Five Spices, but it works better to remove stronger odor from meat such as lamb or deer, or for a cuisine that requires stronger seasonings e.g. a Sichuan spicy hot pot.