The two most popular Chinese five spice blends on the market in the United States are “Five Spice Powder” and “Paul Prudhomme’s Chef’s Style.”
The Five Spice Powder, imported from China, is a blend of cinnamon, star anise, Sichuan pepper, fennel seed, and cloves. The Paul Prudhomme blend adds orange peel and ginger in addition to the above ingredients.
Why two such similar products compete for market share is not clear. Both are good and have their own unique flavor – but the end result is that you can only use one or the other.
As a professional chef I wanted to find out what each of these blends was best for – so I made up small batches of each and tried them out on my friends and family. The results were unanimous: hands down the Five Spice Powder kicked butt with the orange peel and ginger in the Paul Prudhomme blend coming in a close second.
The two blends that seem to be most popular online are those by Paul Prudhomme and Penzey’s. They both come in a jar, and they both contain star anise, cloves, fennel seeds, Szechuan pepper and cinnamon.
Taste wise, they are quite similar. They both have a complex blend of bitter tastes (star anise) and sweet + savory tastes (cinnamon). The flavor is also quite strong. The main difference is that Chef’s Style Blend has more star anise than the Penzey’s blend.
Hello, my name is Mary, and I am a foodie. I guess you could say that I have a passion for food since it has been a large part of my life. After graduating from college with a Liberal Arts degree, I decided to visit friends in New York City. On the spur of the moment, I decided to take a cooking class at the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan. I fell in love with cooking and decided to enroll in culinary school.
The Chef’s Style Blend comes in a 6 oz container and retail for about $3.50. The Five Spice Powder comes in 3 oz container for about $2.00 and you can buy it at your local grocery store or Chinese products store like Ranch 99 or T&T Market.
The Five Spice Powder is one of my favorite spice blends because it combines several spices that are not easily found on their own. This makes it very versatile for cooking different Chinese recipes. The blend contains anise seed, cinnamon stick, fennel seed, Szechuan peppercorn and cloves; these are the five spices mentioned in the title of the blend. It smells delicious, not too strong and not too subtle either – just right! When you open up the container, it looks like
I am going to discuss two of the most popular Chinese five spice blends. These are two of the most used blends in my spice rack and I use them a lot. There are many other Chinese 5 spice blends out there, but these are two of my favorites.
As any foodie knows, there are lots of different types of five spice powder on the market. The differences can be subtle or drastic. Some are made from a blend of spices, others from one primary ingredient like clove or cinnamon.
What is the difference? The big thing is quality. Many brands of five spice powder that you find in the store are made with fillers and often artificial coloring. They are cheaper but lack the intense flavor and aroma of higher quality blends.
The best place to find a high quality blend is at your local Chinese grocery store, where you will get it straight from the hands of a Chinese spice master who has been crafting their blends for years. Now they have expanded out into markets around the country, so with a little effort you can find them near you.
“If you want to make a delicious meal, there are many spices that you can add to your food. You’ve probably savored the flavor of five spice powder. If you have any interest in knowing more about this spice mix, then the following article will be of help to you.”
