I needed something to punch up my oven fried rice a bit, so I thought of Chinese five spice. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find it in any of my local grocery stores. Rather than just order it directly, I figured I’d make my own. However, I did end up having to order one of the ingredients from Amazon: Szechuan peppercorns.

Ingredients

  • 6 star anise pods
  • 1 cinnamon stick (about 3 inches), broken in half
  • 1/2 tablespoon whole cloves
  • 2 tablespoons fennel seeds
  • 2 teaspoons Szechuan peppercorns

Directions

  1. Toast spices in a dry skillet until fragrant (2-3 minutes). Cool completely.
  2. Place cooled spices in a spice grinder and grind as finely as possible.
  3. Store in an airtight container away from light.