Five spice is Chinese and Vietnamese spice blend containing somewhere between 5 and 7 spices. It is commonly used on roast or braised meats with braised pork belly, beef brisket, or roast duck being a few classics. There are many recipes for this blend, but common ingredients are Sichuan pepercorns, cloves, cinnamon, anise seed, star anise, and ground ginger.
Five spice may be found in Chinese or Southeast Asian markets, but it is easy to make your own if you have a well stocked spice cupboard.
The five spice recipe I’ve been carting around for some time is:
- 30ml Sichuan peppercorns [black peppercorns may be substitued, but you'll lose the lemony flavour of the Sichuan pepper]
- 10ml fennel seed
- 10ml ground ginger
- 3 star anise pods
- 6 whole cloves
- 6 inches of cinnamon stick broken up
Yes, I know it has six spices.
