Chinese Take-Out: Chinese Five Spice Powder

Here is a recipe so that you can make your own "Chinese Five Spice Powder" at home. It is much fresher and a lot tastier than the store bought bottles. Please feel free to adjust the quantity of each ingredient to your own liking and leave me a note as to your changes (I'm still playing with the ingredients myself). This keeps quite fresh for 4-6 months if stored properly. I double this batch each time so I do not have to make it as often. I'm kinda guessing at the yield size, as I have never really measured it after grinding. I hope you enjoy this recipe.

• Ready In: 8 mins
• Yields: 3 1/2 tablespoons

Ingredients

• 1  tablespoon fennel seed
• 2  teaspoons szechuan peppercorns
• 8  whole star anise
• 2 1⁄2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions

1. Heat a heavy bottom skillet over medium-low heat. Add peppercorns and shake pan back and forth for 2-3 minutes.
2. Immediately put peppercorns into a spice grinder, along with the star anise and fennel seed. Grind until the spices are finely powdered. Sift the spices through a fine mesh strainer and discard what remains behind. Put powdered spices back into the grinder and add the ground cinnamon and ground clove. Mix again until thoroughly combined.
3. Store in a tightly sealed container in a cool, dark place for 4-6 months. (I usually make a double batch and use a small (4 oz) baby food jar for storage).
4. Enjoy your "Home-made Chinese Five Spice Powder"!