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concerned about being authentic. Your goal is to create a flavor with minimal effort that is to your
liking.
Five is a symbolic number in Chinese and has a magical power in herbal health medicine.
That may be the reason for "five-spice," even though some Oriental cookbooks include six or seven
spices in this spice blend. Here is a good five-spice mix.
Ingredients
1
2
2
2
2
2 star anise, or 4 teaspoons anise seeds
teaspoons fennel seeds
teaspoons ground cinnamon or 3-inch (8-cm) cinnamon stick, broken up
teaspoons whole cloves
teaspoons whole Szechwan pepper or black peppercorn
Procedure
Place all spices in a spice mill and grind until fine. Store extra in the freezer. Makes 3
tablespoons five-spice powder mix.
You can freeze your often-used herb supply, too. The easiest way to freeze herbs at home is
to wash them, put them in a plastic bag as is, squeeze as much air out of the bag as you can, then
seal, label and freeze. The volatiles escape very slowly, and you have fresh herbs for many months.
You can also chop the herb, mix it with enough water just to cover, then freeze it in small batches in
an ice cube tray. Once frozen solid, take out the cubes and store them in a labeled plastic bag in your
freezer. You seal the volatiles in the frozen cube so these herbs keep fresh for years. This method
takes up more freezer space, but you have a longer-term supply. Don't forget to label how much
herb is in each ice cube so you don't have to measure the soggy stuff when you defrost it. Stored this
way, herbs are only suitable for liquidy dishes, such as soups and stews.
You can also preserve chopped herbs in a little oil in your freezer. The oil seals in the
volatiles and this method takes much less freezer space. I could not detect any difference in flavor
between the three methods when I tested fresh herbs after a month of freezer storage.
Using flavorings
With the understand of how flavorings modify your food, you are now in a position to get
their maximum impact.
The smell of cooking aroma in every corner of your house is a most enticing aroma. But it
means that flavor compounds, that should have stayed in the pot, escaped all over the house. The
trick to flavorful cooking is to keep those aromatic compounds in the pot where they belong with
only the tiniest trickle escaping to whet appetites. If you add spices and herbs early in a long
cooking process, much of the volatile essential oils find their way into the air, escaping with the hot
steam. It is better to add them in the last quarter of the cooking period. This is also true for garlic.
Onion is an exception that needs sautéing or a slight browning before it releases the maximum
flavor through browning and caramelization. Too little time for the flavorings in the cooking pot is
also unwise. The plant cells must have enough time to break down in the heat and release and
activate the volatile oils.
Flavor extracts (like almond extract) and essential oils don't need heat activation, in fact if
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