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	<title>Comments on: Five-Spice Blend</title>
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		<title>By: Kay</title>
		<link>http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/five-spice-blend/comment-page-1#comment-24235</link>
		<dc:creator>Kay</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 03 Jun 2012 13:55:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/?p=12702#comment-24235</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[For me it&#039;s anise all the way. I find a five-spice blend without anise incredibly boring and bland. 

Your elements are a little off. The five elements the spice blend is based upon are: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Air is not an element.

Oh wow, I really could have sworn I actually used whole spices in my mix. Of course I could be wrong :)]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>For me it&#8217;s anise all the way. I find a five-spice blend without anise incredibly boring and bland. </p>
<p>Your elements are a little off. The five elements the spice blend is based upon are: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Air is not an element.</p>
<p>Oh wow, I really could have sworn I actually used whole spices in my mix. Of course I could be wrong :)</p>
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		<title>By: Erwin</title>
		<link>http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/five-spice-blend/comment-page-1#comment-24234</link>
		<dc:creator>Erwin</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 03 Jun 2012 13:38:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/?p=12702#comment-24234</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Your right Kay. 
Making your own Five-Spice Blend is so easy to do and the result will be vastly superior to most commercial brands, which I find too overwhelmed with anise.  I also find that most spice blends use the cheaper and more easily available black peppercorns instead of the proper Sichuan peppercorns. And you know that  Sichuan &quot;peppercorns&quot;are not even peppercorns, but dried outer pods of prickly ash fruits. So therefore you can&#039;t replace them Kay!

Like most people you concentrate on five kinds of spice: star anise, sichuan peppercorns, cinnamon and fennel. It seems that people take the &quot;five&quot; in &quot;Five Spice&quot; to mean a blend of five different spices. This is not entirely correct. The &quot;five&quot; in Five Spice actually refers to the balance of five basic elements: earth, fire, water, air, and metal. 
The Five Spice powder was originally used in Chinese medicine to restore the balance of the five elements in the Chi or the life energy in our bodies. So, besides the five basic spices, Five Spice powder may contain other spices such as coriandar seeds, cumin or anise seeds (instead of fennel seeds), black or green cardamom, and even your beloved nutmeg. :)

In my own Five-Spice Blend, I started out with equal amount, by weight, of the five basic spices, though recently I’ve been using cumin seeds instead fennel seeds. I found that the mix of star anise, cinnamon and fennel seeds, all providing strong anise-y notes, became a little overpowering, so I opted for cumin seeds, which are very similar to fennel seeds but a little less anise-y and a bit more earthy. I also added coriandar seeds and (sometimes) cardamom to my blend.
I recommend starting with whole spices if you can find them – ground spices lose their potency quickly, and you never know how old they’ve been loitering on the shelf. Starting with whole spices also allow you to dry roast them for a bit before grinding, which helps turn certain compounds in the spices more volatile, so your Five-Spice Blend ends up more fragrant and flavorful. On a dry pan over medium heat, roast each spice separately until just fragrant. They roast at different time so the easiest and safest thing to do is use a small pan and roast each one separately. Let the spices come back close to room temperature before grinding. 
Oh, and if you wondering .... I use a heavy mortar and pestle – it takes a lot of elbow grease, I know.

Well, we&#039;ll have too see what kind of dish you made this weekend, but I&#039;m hoping for: a crisp Indo/Chinese Pork Belly Recipe (Babi Pangang?) :D




]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Your right Kay.<br />
Making your own Five-Spice Blend is so easy to do and the result will be vastly superior to most commercial brands, which I find too overwhelmed with anise.  I also find that most spice blends use the cheaper and more easily available black peppercorns instead of the proper Sichuan peppercorns. And you know that  Sichuan &#8220;peppercorns&#8221;are not even peppercorns, but dried outer pods of prickly ash fruits. So therefore you can&#8217;t replace them Kay!</p>
<p>Like most people you concentrate on five kinds of spice: star anise, sichuan peppercorns, cinnamon and fennel. It seems that people take the &#8220;five&#8221; in &#8220;Five Spice&#8221; to mean a blend of five different spices. This is not entirely correct. The &#8220;five&#8221; in Five Spice actually refers to the balance of five basic elements: earth, fire, water, air, and metal.<br />
The Five Spice powder was originally used in Chinese medicine to restore the balance of the five elements in the Chi or the life energy in our bodies. So, besides the five basic spices, Five Spice powder may contain other spices such as coriandar seeds, cumin or anise seeds (instead of fennel seeds), black or green cardamom, and even your beloved nutmeg. :)</p>
<p>In my own Five-Spice Blend, I started out with equal amount, by weight, of the five basic spices, though recently I’ve been using cumin seeds instead fennel seeds. I found that the mix of star anise, cinnamon and fennel seeds, all providing strong anise-y notes, became a little overpowering, so I opted for cumin seeds, which are very similar to fennel seeds but a little less anise-y and a bit more earthy. I also added coriandar seeds and (sometimes) cardamom to my blend.<br />
I recommend starting with whole spices if you can find them – ground spices lose their potency quickly, and you never know how old they’ve been loitering on the shelf. Starting with whole spices also allow you to dry roast them for a bit before grinding, which helps turn certain compounds in the spices more volatile, so your Five-Spice Blend ends up more fragrant and flavorful. On a dry pan over medium heat, roast each spice separately until just fragrant. They roast at different time so the easiest and safest thing to do is use a small pan and roast each one separately. Let the spices come back close to room temperature before grinding. <br />
Oh, and if you wondering &#8230;. I use a heavy mortar and pestle – it takes a lot of elbow grease, I know.</p>
<p>Well, we&#8217;ll have too see what kind of dish you made this weekend, but I&#8217;m hoping for: a crisp Indo/Chinese Pork Belly Recipe (Babi Pangang?) :D</p>
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		<title>By: Kim</title>
		<link>http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/five-spice-blend/comment-page-1#comment-24232</link>
		<dc:creator>Kim</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 02 Jun 2012 20:23:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/?p=12702#comment-24232</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You will never guess my good fortune.  I was walking buy a garage sale on my way to A&amp;W.  I quickly asked if they have a food processor for sale.  I bought one for $5.  I figured what a great way to see if I will get use out of one before taking a greater plunge.  I only came with the one blade that I would need to make some of my new recipes.  I am excited.  Boy it&#039;s scary as to how little it takes to put a smile on my face.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>You will never guess my good fortune.  I was walking buy a garage sale on my way to A&amp;W.  I quickly asked if they have a food processor for sale.  I bought one for $5.  I figured what a great way to see if I will get use out of one before taking a greater plunge.  I only came with the one blade that I would need to make some of my new recipes.  I am excited.  Boy it&#8217;s scary as to how little it takes to put a smile on my face.</p>
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	<item>
		<title>By: Kay</title>
		<link>http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/five-spice-blend/comment-page-1#comment-24230</link>
		<dc:creator>Kay</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 02 Jun 2012 17:29:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/?p=12702#comment-24230</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&lt;p&gt;Now that you mention it, can&#039;t say I&#039;ve ever seen them around here.&lt;/p&gt;]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Now that you mention it, can&#8217;t say I&#8217;ve ever seen them around here.</p>
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		<title>By: Mark Preston</title>
		<link>http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/five-spice-blend/comment-page-1#comment-24229</link>
		<dc:creator>Mark Preston</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 02 Jun 2012 16:58:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/?p=12702#comment-24229</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Kay -can you buy cassia buds in Dutchland?]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Kay -can you buy cassia buds in Dutchland?</p>
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		<title>By: Arrisje</title>
		<link>http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/five-spice-blend/comment-page-1#comment-24228</link>
		<dc:creator>Arrisje</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 02 Jun 2012 15:53:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/?p=12702#comment-24228</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Love that second picture :)]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Love that second picture :)</p>
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		<title>By: Kay</title>
		<link>http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/five-spice-blend/comment-page-1#comment-24224</link>
		<dc:creator>Kay</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Jun 2012 16:48:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/?p=12702#comment-24224</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&lt;p&gt;My food processor came with a citrus press and a lot of discs, no blender attachment or anything. I was surprised I actually got a spice/coffeemill with a blender. 

This is a Magimix Le Blender. So is my food processor. &lt;/p&gt;]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My food processor came with a citrus press and a lot of discs, no blender attachment or anything. I was surprised I actually got a spice/coffeemill with a blender. </p>
<p>This is a Magimix Le Blender. So is my food processor. </p>
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		<title>By: ash</title>
		<link>http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/five-spice-blend/comment-page-1#comment-24222</link>
		<dc:creator>ash</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Jun 2012 16:34:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/?p=12702#comment-24222</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I bought Food processor, it didn&#039;t come with grinder but with blender. ... mai i know which one did you buy as i have to buy one! and i don&#039;t many at media mart :(]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I bought Food processor, it didn&#8217;t come with grinder but with blender. &#8230; mai i know which one did you buy as i have to buy one! and i don&#8217;t many at media mart :(</p>
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		<title>By: Kay</title>
		<link>http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/five-spice-blend/comment-page-1#comment-24221</link>
		<dc:creator>Kay</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Jun 2012 15:26:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/?p=12702#comment-24221</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&lt;p&gt;I don&#039;t think I could live without my food processor, but the things I really needed a blender for, he didn&#039;t excel at. The spice mill is a huge bonus that you would actually expect to come with a food processor, not a blender. 

Keeping them both on the countertop now.

I also bought a stand-mixer and must admit that I barely use it. Should&#039;ve known better than to buy a stand-mixer when I seldom to never bake anything :)&lt;/p&gt;]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I don&#8217;t think I could live without my food processor, but the things I really needed a blender for, he didn&#8217;t excel at. The spice mill is a huge bonus that you would actually expect to come with a food processor, not a blender. </p>
<p>Keeping them both on the countertop now.</p>
<p>I also bought a stand-mixer and must admit that I barely use it. Should&#8217;ve known better than to buy a stand-mixer when I seldom to never bake anything :)</p>
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		<title>By: Kim</title>
		<link>http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/five-spice-blend/comment-page-1#comment-24218</link>
		<dc:creator>Kim</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Jun 2012 14:29:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/?p=12702#comment-24218</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I am really debating if I will take the plunge and buy a food processor too.  I keep thinking that it will be another item that will take up space in my small kitchen.  I&#039;ve also used a hand mixer for the last 33 years of marriage.  I think maybe a mixer would be the first order of business.  Oh what a dilemma I have.  The only thing I know for sure is that it all costs money.  If my husband gets wind of it he&#039;ll think that he should buy something new too and I&#039;ll find a new quad or something parked in the yard.  Let us know if you really love your new devise.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I am really debating if I will take the plunge and buy a food processor too.  I keep thinking that it will be another item that will take up space in my small kitchen.  I&#8217;ve also used a hand mixer for the last 33 years of marriage.  I think maybe a mixer would be the first order of business.  Oh what a dilemma I have.  The only thing I know for sure is that it all costs money.  If my husband gets wind of it he&#8217;ll think that he should buy something new too and I&#8217;ll find a new quad or something parked in the yard.  Let us know if you really love your new devise.</p>
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