Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works Hi brain Stuff Lauren Voga bamb Here it's easy to take Chinese five spice powder for granted, you might even wonder if it's culturally authentic. But not only is this curious spice blend an important part of China's culinary tradition, it's an attempt to balance the crucial five flavors identified in Chinese culture. The spice blend itself is far from set in stone.
You'll frequently find five spice powder that contains cinnamon, starnese, cloves, fennel, and schwan peppercorns, but these specific ingredients vary. They don't even have to total five. That's because it's less a matter of combining five sources of flavor, but rather the creation of a spice blend that provides a balance of the five flavors themselves bitter, sweet, spicy, sour, and pungent.
According to chef and author of Stir Crazy Ching he Hung, these flavors are crucial for balanced dishes in Chinese cuisine, and their use is more complex than a Western branded bottle of five bice powder might suggest. Huang said, sometimes the West confuses Chinese five spice with allspice, which can
contain liquorice, nutmeg, and black pepper. The spices and Chinese five spice, separately and sometimes together whole, are used in numerous dishes, from stir fries to braised and stewed dishes a wide range of recipes, whereas the West often uses it just in powder form and just for marinating. In her own cooking, Huang uses the powder for a variety of casseroles, spice rubs, marinads, roasts, stocks, and soy braised dishes. While she admits that store bought five spice works perfectly well,
she prefers to make it herself. Huang said, I make my own with equal quantities of sechuan, pepper, star anie, cinnamon, fennel, and cloves. First dry toast it, place it in a spice grinder and grind until it's very fine. You can use a fine sieve to make sure there are no gritti or larger pieces. Huang also points to the deeper understanding of the five flavors, one based in traditional Chinese medicines, deep history of herbal medicine and body energy manipulation shan.
According to Beijian University, of Chinese medicine, professor Dang Ye the five flavors ensure proper organ function and overall health in traditional Chinese medicine. The various ingredients in five spice powder factor into other herbal medicine traditions as well, though
Western medical evidence tends towards the inconclusive. The doctrine of the five flavors became established in China around the fourth century b C, and tradition places its origin in the ancient myth shrouded Jiah dynasty of the second millennium BC. Whatever its exact origins, the concept proved pervasive enough to influence realms outside of medicine and cuisine, including philosophical discourse. As philosophy professor Spencer Wortz discusses in his book Food
and Philosophy, Selected Essays. The ancient philosopher Laogi claimed the five flavors caused men to not taste at all. While this would seem counterintuitive to many modern readers, the Taoism founders point was that if you use any sense to its fullest, udult's ability. Other Taoist thinkers made a point of championing the simple tastes of foods like rice and
konge tastes that are arguably annihilated by intense spices. Laugi's lesson on over indulgence is obvious, but other Chinese philosophers saw the value in a perfect balance of the five flavors. As Words points out, a simple bowl of soup served as a potent political metaphor in the fourth century b c. E. Text Zochuan. A harmony of spices in the soup, it was said, would result in both a harmonious flavor and
a harmonious mind. Of course, you don't have to risk political unrest or sensory decadence in your use of five spice powder. The next time you reach for it, however, take a moment to consider the millennia's worth of tradition embodied in that tiny bottle of balanced flavor. Today's episode was written by Robert Lamb and produced by Tyler Clang.
You can hear more from Robert on his podcast Stuff to Blow Your Mind, and of course, for more on this and other pungent topics, visit our home planet, tastaff Works dot com.