Chinese Spices

The Chinese place great value on both the physical and spiritual benefits of their cuisine. Harmony of flavour, colour and texture reflects the ancient Taoist principles of Yin and Yang: complementary negative and positive forces in balance.

China, with its diverse climate and terrain has highly distinctive regional styles of cuisine: stir-fried and steamed Cantonese dishes abound in the lush and fertile south; warming noodles, dumplings and firepots are typical of the more robust Pekinese style of the northern wilderness; the Sichuan region is fiery and passionate with many chillies and spices whereas the Shanghai style in the East has rich dishes of meat and fish created from slowly braised ingredients.

Chinese herbs and spices and other Chinese ingredients are widely available these days, so we can all enjoy preparing dishes from any of these distinctive regional styles.
Chinese spices include Sichuan Pepper, which is not actually a pepper at all, but a member of the citrus family! It has a tangy sweet spicy flavour and is a classic Chinese ingredient in stir-fries and Chinese Five Spice blend.

Five Spice blend captures the magical flavours of China as it is a seasoning made from the Chinese spices of Star Anise, Sichuan Pepper, Fennel seeds, Cassia bark and Cloves.
Specialist Chinese ingredients available from Seasoned Pioneers include Mandarin Peel, which will impart a tart citrus flavour to your recipes. We also offer Chinese Sichuan Salt, an all purpose Chinese seasoning which is a blend of Sea Salt and Sichuan Pepper.

Relatively simple to prepare, tasty, healthy and nutritious dishes are at your fingertips using fresh ingredients, Chinese herbs and spices and a hot wok!
Should you have any queries regarding cooking with Chinese spices, we will do our best to help, just contact us.