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Five Spice Powder

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in China: Cooking & Baking

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Gastro888

Gastro888

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Gosh, I know it's used in making roasted pig. In my family, we use it sparingly in seasoning food prior to cooking - well, depends on the dish. I suspect it's used more in northern Chinese cooking than Cantonese. That's just a guess, though.

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mikeycook

mikeycook

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Not specifically Chinese, but at Morimoto a couple of years back I had a lobster tail roasted with five-spice powder. it was delicious.

"If the divine creator has taken pains to give us delicious and exquisite things to eat, the least we can do is prepare them well and serve them with ceremony."

~ Fernand Point

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Jason Perlow

Jason Perlow

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Its used pretty universally in marinades for meats and stir fries (brown sauces usually).

Jason Perlow, Co-Founder eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters

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jo-mel

jo-mel

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My favorite BBQ spareribs have 5-spice powder in the marinade-glaze. (Joanne Hush / Peter Wong "Chinese Menu Cookbook)

It can be part of a rub for roasted chicken and duck.

Also, sometimes in Red-cooked dishes. (Hong Shao 红烧)

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andiesenji

andiesenji

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I use it in and on a lot of things. I buy the Tradewinds brand (large container) at Smart & Final or the store brand at Costco or Sam's Club.

I use it in marinades, brines and rubs, on squash and pumpkin, on many other vegetables, roasted vegetables, particularly root vegetables, carrots and parsnips.

It goes into stews, chili, meatloaf

I also use it in most of the homemade sausages I make.

It goes into my pickle mixture for bread and butter and sweet pickles.

It even gets dusted lightly onto some breads.

It does nice things for some fruit salads, poached fruits and so on.

Don't be afraid to use it but use it sparingly at first to see how it works for you.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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hzrt8w

hzrt8w

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I suspect it's used more in northern Chinese cooking than Cantonese.  That's just a guess, though.

I suspect not. Five spices, in their seed/grain form or powder form, are used very often in Cantonese cooking.

Most Cantonese BBQ items that you buy: Roast duck, roast pork, BBQ pork, deep-fried chicken, all of them have five spice powder as a dry rub inside (with BBQ pork they are added to the simmering master sauce).

The Hung Shao dishes (red braised dishes), five spices are added to the soy sauce to braise beef, pork, chicken and such.

Snacks: chicken wings (red braised or deep-fried), tea eggs...

Five spices are used in many Cantonese cookings.

The condiment that comes with Cantonese fried chicken (Ja Gee Gai), which you just had: salt mixed with five spice powder

W.K. Leung ("Ah Leung") aka "hzrt8w"
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curlywurlyfi

curlywurlyfi

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not especially Chinese either but I use it most often when I'm stir-frying cabbage. Once you're past the initial stir-fry bit, add some crushed garlic and a slug of white wine and clamp a lid on tight so the cabbage steams/braises a little, then turn the heat up with the lid off to boil off the liquid. Lovely with ham and mashed potato.

Fi Kirkpatrick

tofu fi fie pho fum

"Your avatar shoes look like Marge Simpson's hair." - therese

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Ben Hong

Ben Hong

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Funny thing, five spice powder is used a lot, generally, in Cantonese style BBQs. but there are regional differences here in Canada. For instance, in the Montreal Chinatown, the charsiu and the whole roast pig has five spice, but in Toronto, nada.

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Carolyn Tillie

Carolyn Tillie

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Don't forget desserts! I made a simple pate sucre for a peach gallette, but add Chinese five spice to the peaches when sauteeing them. Instead of simple whipped cream, I make a smple vanilla sauce as it plays off the Chinese five spice a bit more and all together, makes for an amazing layer and dimension to an otherwise "classic" American dish.

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Gastro888

Gastro888

Posted
Posted
I suspect it's used more in northern Chinese cooking than Cantonese.  That's just a guess, though.

I suspect not. Five spices, in their seed/grain form or powder form, are used very often in Cantonese cooking.

Most Cantonese BBQ items that you buy: Roast duck, roast pork, BBQ pork, deep-fried chicken, all of them have five spice powder as a dry rub inside (with BBQ pork they are added to the simmering master sauce).

The Hung Shao dishes (red braised dishes), five spices are added to the soy sauce to braise beef, pork, chicken and such.

Snacks: chicken wings (red braised or deep-fried), tea eggs...

Five spices are used in many Cantonese cookings.

The condiment that comes with Cantonese fried chicken (Ja Gee Gai), which you just had: salt mixed with five spice powder

Ok, gotcha on the BBQ meats. Never had a hung shao dish before (I know...and I'm Cantonese...we just don't do those in our house) so I can't comment. I thought tea eggs were a northern thing - not a southern thing. I've only seen the honey-soy chicken wings and the fried chicken wings with a pinch of curry powder in the mix.

I disagree - it's not 5 spice powder. "Wah yeem" is suppose to be Szechuan peppercorn and salt. Unfortunately it's mostly MSG, salt and a bit of 5 spice powder.

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hzrt8w

hzrt8w

Posted
Posted (edited)
I disagree - it's not 5 spice powder.  "Wah yeem" is suppose to be Szechuan peppercorn and salt.  Unfortunately it's mostly MSG, salt and a bit of 5 spice powder.

Okay. Got it. :smile: It seems that different restaurants do it a bit differently.

Szechuan peppercorn is one of the five spices... :smile:

Edited by hzrt8w (log)
W.K. Leung ("Ah Leung") aka "hzrt8w"
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OPJK

OPJK

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On Saturday, I made red snapper over cepes with a port reduction from the Le Bernardin cookbook. The fish is seasoned with 5 spice, salt and white pepper.

Knowledge is good.

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andiesenji

andiesenji

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Bread pudding, yes!

And I add it to rice pudding too....

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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Gastro888

Gastro888

Posted
Posted
I disagree - it's not 5 spice powder.  "Wah yeem" is suppose to be Szechuan peppercorn and salt.  Unfortunately it's mostly MSG, salt and a bit of 5 spice powder.

Okay. Got it. :smile: It seems that different restaurants do it a bit differently.

Szechuan peppercorn is one of the five spices... :smile:

BAH! :laugh: You know, this is what I get for living in an area that has a piss-poor Chinatown - I get the half a$$ed culinary education. BAH! :laugh::raz:

I loose Chinese points.... :rolleyes:

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Feedbag

Feedbag

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  • Topic Starter
Posted

Wow, thanks guys. Still a bit confused, though.

It's used in savoury AND sweet dishes?

What's it taste like, then? What does it add?

Those pork rolls sound great, thanks for the link.

Are there any other quick recipe ideas using it that

anyone can think of?

I've got a bottle, just don't know what to do with it.

For the person who sprinkles it on chicken before

baking, what does that do to the chicken? What

flavour does it add?

Thanks so much for the feedback!!

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Pan

Pan

Posted
Posted
Wow, thanks guys. Still a bit confused, though.

It's used in savoury AND sweet dishes?

What's it taste like, then?[...]

Put a little of it on your finger and put it in your mouth. Seriously. No-one else but you can determine how it tastes to you. All the rest of us can do is but a poor attempt to translate a complex taste into words. And when you try it, tell us whether you think the star anise flavor or some other flavor predominates, in your opinion.

For the person who sprinkles it on chicken before

baking, what does that do to the chicken?[...]

It adds taste. :laugh:

What

flavour does it add?[...]

Five Spice flavor. :biggrin:

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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