A simple authentic recipe for Chinese Five Spice that takes 5 minutes from start to finish! Use this recipe in Authentic Szechuan Sauce, Szechuan Eggplant, Szechuan Tofu, Vietnamese Vermicelli Bowls and Lightning Speed Photon Soup! Video.
Origin of Chinese Five Spice
Interestingly, Chinese Five Spice is based on the five elements – fire, water, wood, earth and metal. According to traditional Chinese medicine, the five elements are manifested in different parts of the body and when there are imbalances in these elements, illness can result. For thousands of years, herbs and spices have been used to restore balance in the body and that is why Chinese five-spice powder came to be.
Chinese Five Spice | 30-second video!
What spices are in Chinese Five Spice?
The ingredients and amount of spices vary greatly from region to region and even from household to household depending on personal tastes and preference, but the most common ingredients are:
- Star Anise
- Fennel Seeds
- Szechuan Peppercorns ( or regular peppercorns)
- Whole Cloves
- Cinnamon Stick
How do you make Chinese Five Spice?
Place all the spices in a spice or coffee grinder and grind until smooth.
No need to toast the spices first if in a hurry, but of course if you have time, toasting will elevate! Place in an airtight spice jar and that is it!
So easy!
Enjoy the incredible aroma.
Store in an airtight spice jar for up to 6 months for the best flavor.
So easy and so much better than store-bought!
Use this authentic Chinese Five Spice in:
- Authentic Szechuan Sauce
- Szechuan Eggplant
- Five Spice Pulled Pork Tacos with Asian Slaw
- Tea Smoked Five Spice Salmon
- Szechuan Tofu and Veggie Stir-fry
- Burmese Chicken (or Tofu) and Veggies
- Lighting Speed Photon Soup
- Vietnamese Beef and Green Papaya Salad
- Vietnamese Vermicelli Bowls
Chinese Five Spice Powder Recipe
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 2
- Total Time: 7 minutes
- Yield: ¼ cup 1x
- Category: Spice blend
- Method: Blend
- Cuisine: Chinese
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Here’s a simple authentic recipe for Chinese Five Spice powder that can be made in 5 minutes flat. Fragrant and flavorful.
Ingredients
- 6 whole star anise pods
- 1 1/2 teaspoon whole cloves (or 1 1/4 teaspoon ground)
- 1 cinnamon stick (3 inches long ) or two tablespoons ground
- 2 tablespoons fennel seeds
- 2 teaspoons Szechuan peppercorns ( or sub 3 teaspoons regular peppercorns)
Instructions
Toast any dry whole spices in a dry skillet, until fragrant, 2-3 minutes.
Place all ingredients in a spice grinder (or coffee grinder) and grind until smooth.
Smell the goodness.
Store in a sealed, airtight spice jar -and for best flavor use within 6 months.
Makes ¼ cup.
Notes
Lightly toasting the whole seeds/pods in a dry skillet will create a more fragrant, intense flavor.
In a pinch you could sub 1 tablespoon anise seeds, but it won’t be quite the same flavor.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 teaspoons
- Calories: 14
- Sugar: 0 g
- Sodium: 2.4 mg
- Fat: 0.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 3 g
- Fiber: 1.7 g
- Protein: 0.5 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
THIS IS AN AMAZING!
Yay!
I love making my own spice blends. Sometimes it’s difficult finding a really good authentic blend. I knew I hit the jackpot here just after blending.the aroma was Devine & the flavor is spot on. So much better than Preble dedicated than I’ve used in the past,thank you!
Great to hear this Kory!
Very helpful, especially the substitution tip.
Great to hear!
Great recipe, thanks. I am so happy to make fresh spice mixes. Next time I will try a little less fennel seed – it rather dominates the flavour profile.
Thanks! Feel free to adjust to taste!
This is the best spice blend I’ve ever made. Definitely toast the whole spices ahead of time. Your whole house is going to smell amazing!
So happy you enjoyed it!
So good on crispy fried tofu! I tried a little 5 Spice in our smoothies and in homemade chocolate brownies .. yum! Not having a spice grinder, I used a mortar and pestle (with tellicherry black peppercorns bc I didn’t have Szechuan). I ground the spices for about an hour, then sifted, kept the fine grounds and offered up the other, chunkier half in my neighborhood’s Buy Nothing group. Seeing that post, a neighbor offered me some of their Szechuan peppercorns. Now I’m set with authentic Five Spice and a new friend.
I love all this Crystal! That’s a good workout and the buy nothing group is very inspiring- love how it all comes back around.❤️
Perfect for kikiiam recipe with its strong aroma
Thank you..
Great to hear!
Can I use my ninja to grind the ingredients together?
Maybe! I have used my vitamix, it is not always evenly ground but it works just fine in recipes.
This is a recipe I have been looking for, for a while. Thank you.
Wonderful!
How much star anise if i use it as grounded?
I would guess 2-3 teaspoons. 🙂
Why are the whole cloves crossed off of the receipt ? I want to make this for the first time and I am looking forward to doing it properly
Hi Ronald- those are “check boxes”, you must have accidently checked the cloves off your list? It is just to help you keep track of ingredeints- what you need to buy or what you have. 🙂
I had ran out of 5 spice and I didn’t want to go to the shops so I googled this recipe and within 5 minutes I had my 5 spice. I will never buy it in a jar again. Cheap and simple *****
Awesome Kerry!
tks
Simple and delicious recipe…when India was under British rule in 1615, the British East India Company brought Indians from Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka across Asian countries to work as government workers. This is how the five spice came to be. You see the heavy influence in the cooking in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Malyasia. The East India Company took resources from India and sold it abroad for profit and the five spices came to China. Cheers.
Interesting! Thanks for sharing!
Made this in my spice grinder. Smells fabulous. Added 1 T. coriander seed. Pretty sure this would still taste good with 1 or 2 tsp. Cloves. Fiddling with 1/2 tsp. is annoying.
Recommend doubling to make it worth the effort.
Excellent!
Great!
Hi Sylvia, thanks so much for this recipe! I really wanna make it so I can use it in a chili oil, but I don’t have a coffee grinder or any kind of grinder, really – only a blender. So, do you think there’s any alternative for how to grind it, maybe manually? I don’t have a mortar and pestle either hahah but do you think I could grind the spices manually using something similar? Thank you a lot already :))
Hi Bia- in a pinch, I have used my cast iron skillet- placed spices between two pieces of parchment and ground with the skillet. Also, I bet your blender would work!
If you use a blender the grains will be course.
Oh dear. Sorry Nejat! I have not used a blender here—just a coffee/spice ginder.
I love it.please share more spice recipes
thanks Edwina!
Came out great. But when they say earth elements what is metal? The heavy metals in store spices? Because I don’t dig eating those. I grow my own herbs and vegetable’s so not having that!Growing Saffron now! $$$$ herb. Labor intense! Lol. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Michael- No not heavy metals. 🙂 The element of metal, in Chinese Medicine, represents Fall- a time of purging or detoxing- and this also represents “spicy” or a little heat to help support the body in doing this- in this case through the Szechuan Peppercorn. 🙂
For the the five elements Chinese herbs what do you mean by 1 1/2 teaspoon whole clove.
Hi Brandon- cloves, the spice. So measure that much out in the whole form, not ground cloves. 🙂
Your recipes look very good I will be trying the eggplant dish and maybe a Tofu dish with the Szechuan spicy sauce. Will let you know how it works out. Thank you for sharing your skills with others. Much appreciated.
Thanks Rami! Glad you are here!
What a beautiful gift for my birthday! Hope this year will be greater; December 22, 2022.
lovely flavor
I will make this right now. Plan to use it immediately on my Roasted Chinese Eggplant! Yum!
Great Mandy!
did you means 6 whole star anise?
yes, 6 whole pods!
I dont have star or pods how much of seed can I crush
Hi Patsy, I would start crush 1/2-1 teaspoon of the seeds. You can always add more.
Looking forward to trying your delicious healthful recipes.
I made Chinese five spices today. Thanks.
Thanks Iris!
I used to think Chinese 5 spice was a boring ingredient. I was so wrong.
I tried to pick some up at the store a few weeks ago but couldn’t find any at the store, so I decided to make my own and found this recipe.
Truly– I had no idea what 5 spice *really* was until I made it myself. Thank you for opening my eyes.