Five-spice powder Five-spice powder Five-spice powder is a spice mixture of five or more spices used predominantly in Chinese and Taiwanese cuisine and also used less commonly in other Asian and Arabic cuisines. Five-spice powder is used for cocktails as well. While there are many variants, a common mix is: Other recipes may contain anise seed, ginger root, nutmeg, turmeric, "Amomum villosum" pods (砂仁), "Amomum cardamomum" pods (白豆蔻), licorice, Mandarin orange peel or galangal. In Southern China, "Cinnamomum loureiroi" and Mandarin orange peel are commonly used as substitutes for "Cinnamomum cassia" and cloves respectively, producing a slightly different flavour profile for southern
Spice mix in certain proportions (From Urdu Masalah, via Arabic Masalih). A masala can be either a combination of dried (and usually dry-roasted) spices, or a paste (such as vindaloo masala) made from a mixture of spices and other ingredients—often garlic, ginger, onions, chilli paste and tomato. Masalas are used extensively in Indian cuisine to add spice and flavour, most familiarly in chicken tikka masala and chicken curry. Other South Asian cuisines including Bangladeshi, Indian, Nepali, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, and Burmese regularly use spice mixes. Spice mix Spice mixes are blended spices or herbs. When a certain combination of herbs or spices