Chinese 5-Spice Powder

I have lots of whole spices. I use them frequently in my cooking, so I buy them in bulk. This actually saves a lot of money because I buy them at ethnic food market where they cost a fraction of what you pay for in those little jars that you find in a supermarket.

One of the flavoring spices that I use often is the Chinese 5-Spice powder. I've used pre-made ones when I rubbed chicken pieces before grilling them and then glazed them with a Chinese BBQ sauce. But one day, I looked up the ingredients for the 5-Spice powder, and realized that I could it myself since I practically had all of the ingredients except for the Szechuan pepper corns, which I promptly bought at a nearby Asian grocery store. And I can tell you that the one I make my own is waaaaay more fragrant than the one I bought pre-made. It is worth the extra effort to make this from scratch.

So here is the receipe for the Chinese 5-Spice powder.

• 1 tablespoon Szechuan pepper corns
• 6 star anise
• 1 1/2 teaspoon whole  cloves
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons fennel seeds

I dry roast them in a pan for a few minutes until I can smell the fragrant aroma from the spices. Then I pour the spices into a coffee grinder and pulverize them into fine powder. Keep in an air-tight container, and it'll keep for weeks or months. It won't go bad, but the fragrance and punch will certainly taper off after a couple of months.

I'll post some time soon a recipe for a glaze that you can use with the 5-Spice powder that will be perfect for summer grilling.

Zz.