How to: Ultimate Chinese Five Spice

1 stick cinnamon, broken into small pieces

12 whole cloves

1 tbsp whole fennel seeds

1 tbsp whole Sichuan peppercorns

• Place the star anise, cinnamon and cloves in a dry frying pan over medium-high heat and cook, stirring and shaking the pan, for 4-5 minutes or until fragrant and just starting to smoke. Remove from heat and transfer the spices to a plate or bowl and allow to cool. Now do the same process with the fennel seeds and Sichuan peppercorns but these will only take 2-3 minutes.
• Use a coffee or spice grinder to grind to a fine powder. Sieve to remove any larger pieces of spices and simply remove them with a spoon. Store in an airtight container.