Once you learn about a new ingredient, like five-spice powder, the best way to get to know it is to cook with it. To experiment with China's most popular spice blend, consider this recipe. The five-spice powder gives the fish a sweet, spicy, and pungent flavor.
A quick and simple slaw consisting of napa cabbage, scallions, and soy sauce is an ideal crunchy companion to the dish. If you can't find snapper, substitute another firm-fleshed fish. To get the recipe keep reading.
A crucial component of Chinese cooking, five-spice powder (also known as Chinese five spice) is a mixture of ground spices that combine the five primary flavors of Chinese cuisine: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and pungent.
The five spices — cinnamon, cloves, star anise, Szechuan peppercorns, and either fennel seed or ginger — are employed based on the Chinese philosophy of balancing the yin and yang in food. The powder is used to flavor dishes from Cantonese roasted duck to beef stew.
