Recipes with five-spice powder

11 recipes that use five-spice powder, with photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Jianbing, takes 25 minutes. It is most often cooked with garlic, light soy sauce and dark soy sauce.

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Jianbing

Jianbing guozi began in Tianjin and is now Beijing's favourite breakfast on the go: a crêpe spread on a round griddle, cracked over with egg, brushed with sauces and folded round a crunchy fried cracker. Vendors make one in two minutes; at home a large non-stick pan works. The batter mixes mung bean and wheat flour for a tender, slightly nutty pancake. Chef's tip: spread the batter thin and fast while the pan is hot, then lower the heat before adding the egg so the crêpe stays pliable.

25 minBreakfast & Brunch

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Ngohiong

Ngohiong grew from the Chinese-Filipino kitchens of Cebu City and is now street food all over Cebu: a lumpia filled with heart of palm (ubod) or jicama seasoned with five-spice, then dipped in batter and fried, so it has a thick, golden coat rather than a thin crisp skin. It is eaten with a glossy, sweet-hot dipping sauce and often with rice. Cebu stalls mix in a little pork or shrimp; this version is all vegetable. Chef's tip: cook the filling until dry and cool it fully; wet filling tears the wrapper and spits in the oil.

55 minSnacks & Starters

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Shiitake and tofu lu rou fan

In Taipei, a bowl of lu rou fan costs little more than a bus fare, and night-market stalls ladle it from pots that have simmered since afternoon. The original is chopped pork belly stewed in soy sauce, rice wine and fried shallots; this meat-free version gets the same glossy, sticky richness from diced shiitake, browned firm tofu and plenty of shallot oil. It is a weekday lunch for office workers and a late snack after the markets, served with a heap of yellow pickled radish and a few blanched greens. Chef's tip: brown the tofu cubes hard before they go into the braise; a crust soaks up the sauce and chews almost like the meat it replaces.

90 minRice & Grains

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Gua bao with braised tofu and mushroom

Gua bao are the folded, clam-shaped buns sold at night markets from Tainan to Keelung, traditionally stuffed with a slab of soy-braised pork belly and eaten as a 'tiger bites pig' snack at year-end company dinners. Here the filling is thick slices of tofu and king oyster mushroom simmered in the same sweet soy braise, then layered with sour mustard greens, a spoon of ground peanut and sugar, and fresh coriander. The soft bun, salty filling and sweet peanut crumble are what make it. Chef's tip: brush the half-moons with oil before folding and lay a strip of baking paper inside, so the buns open cleanly after steaming.

120 minFast Food

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Cao lau

You will really only find proper cao lầu in Hội An, the old trading port on Vietnam's central coast, where it's sold in small family eateries and along the riverside at lunch. The noodles are yellowish and unusually chewy, made with lye water that locals traditionally link to the town's ancient Bá Lễ well. They come almost dry, topped with slices of sweet five-spice pork, raw greens and crisp squares of fried dough, with just a spoonful of the pork juices. Because the real noodles are very hard to buy outside Hội An, this home version uses thick udon noodles, which give a similar bouncy chew; it is a substitute, not the original. Chef's tip: rinse the cooked udon in cold water, then dip briefly in hot water just before serving, so they are warm but firm.

60 minPasta & Noodles

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Penang lor bak

Every Penang lor bak stall shows off a tray of fried things, but the five-spice pork roll is the reason people queue. Minced pork and chopped water chestnut, seasoned with five-spice, soy and garlic, are rolled tight in sheets of dried beancurd skin, steamed, then fried until the skin shatters like thin pastry. Slices are dipped in two sauces: a thick, starchy 'lor' gravy streaked with egg and a bright chilli sauce. They are a favourite with drinks at the hawker centres along Kimberley Street or as part of a Chinese New Year spread. Chef's tip: wipe the beancurd skin with a damp cloth rather than soaking it; too wet and it tears and will not crisp.

60 minSnacks & Starters

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Char siu

Hanging in long glossy strips in the windows of Guangzhou's siu mei shops, char siu is the roast pork Cantonese families pick up on the way home to put on rice, noodles or into steamed buns. The outside is lacquered, sweet and a little charred at the edges; the inside stays juicy, savoury and faintly scented with five-spice. Shoulder (pork butt) is the cut to use, because its marbling keeps the strips moist through a hot oven. Marinate it overnight in the fridge, roast it the next day and eat it warm with steamed rice and blanched greens, or cold in fried rice and noodle soups. Chef's tip: save the honey for the last ten minutes; brushed on at the start it burns black long before the pork is cooked.

120 minMeat

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Chaozhou braised goose

Walk past a lou mei counter in Chaozhou or Shantou and the glossy brown geese hanging there are the first thing you notice; braised goose is offered at ancestral rites, weddings and New Year, then sliced for everyone at the table. The bird simmers slowly in a master stock of soy, rock sugar, galangal and whole spices until the meat is tender and deeply savoury with a gentle sweetness, while the skin stays smooth and the fat soft. Goose can be hard to find, so goose legs or plump duck legs work well at home. Slice it thinly and serve with plain rice or rice porridge, braised tofu and eggs from the same pot, and the sharp garlic vinegar Teochew people always put alongside. Chef's tip: strain and freeze the stock after use; each time you braise in it again the flavour gets deeper, which is how Chaozhou shops keep a 'master' stock for years.

150 minMeat

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Peking duck (home style)

Beijing's famous roast duck is a banquet showpiece, carved at the table in restaurants near Qianmen and eaten in thin wheat pancakes with sticks of cucumber, spring onion and a smear of sweet bean sauce. Restaurants use hanging ovens and inflate the skin with air; at home a scald with boiling water, a sweet vinegar glaze and a night uncovered in the fridge get you most of the way there. The prize is the lacquered, glass-crisp skin, with the meat underneath still juicy. Serve it as the centrepiece of a family feast, followed by a simple soup made from the carcass. Chef's tip: dry the duck uncovered on a rack in the fridge for at least 12 hours; a dry skin is the whole secret.

240 minMeat

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Qishan saozi mian

Weddings, birthdays and harvest feasts in Qishan county, west of Xi'an, all call for these little bowls of noodles, and guests may eat ten or twenty small portions in a row. The key is the saozi, diced pork slowly cooked in aged vinegar and chilli until it turns red, tangy and fragrant; the broth is sour, spicy and bright with diced tofu, carrot, wood ear, egg and garlic shoots. The noodles are thin and springy and the bowls deliberately small. Serve it to a crowd as a lively lunch, with a plate of pickled vegetables. Chef's tip: make the saozi a day ahead; it keeps for a week in the fridge and tastes better after a rest.

60 minSoups

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Taiwanese popcorn chicken

Every night market in Taiwan, from Shilin in Taipei to Tainan's Garden Night Market, has a yan su ji stall with a queue, selling paper bags of bite-size fried chicken. Thigh pieces are marinated in soy, garlic and five-spice, coated in coarse sweet potato starch for a craggy, extra-crunchy shell, double-fried and tossed with fried Thai basil and a salt-and-white-pepper seasoning. The marinade traditionally includes rice wine, which contains alcohol; leave it out or use 1 tbsp water instead. Chef's tip: let the coated chicken rest for 5 minutes until the starch looks damp; it will then stay on in the oil.

40 minChicken

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Goes well with five-spice powder