Add a Little Spice to Your Life!
Kits available starting May 1
Do you love to cook? Do you like to try new flavors and recipes? Or maybe you are in a cooking rut and don’t know how to start expanding your cooking repertoire. Let us help you get spicy in the kitchen. Your kit includes a pre-measured packet of five spice powder and a few recipes.
What is five spice powder? Five spice powder is a spice blend common in Chinese, Taiwanese, Vietnamese and Hawaiian culture. The name five spice powder does not reflect the actual number of spices in the blend but rather the blend’s ability to touch all five taste elements: sweet, bitter, sour, salty, and savory. The blend typically includes star anise, cloves, cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorn, and fennel. These spices are rich in antioxidants and are a terrific source of minerals such as copper, iron and manganese. Regional five spice powder blends can also include anise seed, ginger root, nutmeg, turmeric, cardamom, licorice, and/or orange peel.
Easy ways to add five spice powder to your diet. Five spice powder touches on every spectrum of taste with sweet and warm flavors from the cinnamon and fennel, a cool sensation from the cloves, and a peppery note from the Szechuan peppercorns. Use it as a spice rub marinade for fatty meats like pork, duck, or goose. Prepare a marinade with five spice powder, honey, soy sauce, and garlic. Use it to season the breading of fried food. Make a barbecue sauce by whisking together ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, and some five spice powder. Toss carrots with the five spice powder, olive oil, and honey before roasting them in the oven.
Download recipes featuring five spice powder.
• Five-Spice Kettle Corn
• Herby Sweet Potato Soup With Peanuts
• Stir-Fried Tofu With Ginger
• Takeout-Style Chinese Spare Ribs
• Five Spice Pineapple Carrot Cupcakes
• Five Spice Chocolate Truffles
Need more inspiration?
You can watch a six-part Great Courses class called The Everyday Gourmet: Essential Secrets of Spices in Cooking for free with your library card by using a Hoopla Great Courses BingePass or streaming on Kanopy.