71 and Counting

I currently have 71 containers of spices or spice blends in my cabinets or on my counter. I have another five fresh in my fridge (cilantro, basil, thyme, parsley and rosemary). If I were to look harder, I am sure I’d find even more hidden among the rest of my food but I think I am afraid to.

Spices are so important in cooking. Throughout history people have gone to great lengths to acquire spices, even fighting wars over them. In many dishes several individual spices are called for, but in quite a few, a spice blend is needed. Instead of having you put 1/16th of a teaspoon of 8 different spices, you are called for ½ tsp of the blend. Recently The Kitchn highlighted 25 different spice mixes from around the world. I have some of them in my 71 and in a few cases, have created the mix on my own for a dish.

One of the first mixes that I ever purchased was the Chinese 5 spice. Early in my cooking career I made quite a bit of stir-fry and while gazing over all the possible spices in the grocery store, I spied this mix that had the word Chinese in it. I figured it must be made for stir fry, so I bought it. I used it that night with a chicken stir-fry and knew I had a winner. I have rarely been without it in the several decades since.

Chinese 5 spice is a collection of star anise, cloves, cinnamon, sichuan pepper, and fennel.

Spicy Chinese Five-Spice Rubbed Chicken Wings with Creamy Cilantro Dipping Sauce

These wings are just awesome and give you a flavor different from the typical ones.

A lot of chicken and a few spices. I decided to not make the recommended dipping sauce called for in the recipe.

So simple. Coat the chicken with the spices.

And bake!

Yummy!

Spicy Chinese Five-Spice Rubbed Chicken Wings with Creamy Cilantro Dipping Sauce

prep 20 M ∙ cook 25 M ∙ makes 40 wings ∙ difficulty Easy ∙ source Foodnetwork.com

INGREDIENTS

• 40 chicken wing pieces or 20 whole chicken wings
• 2 tablespoons Chinese five- spice powder
• 3 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Creamy Cilantro Dipping Sauce, recipe follows
• Creamy Cilantro Dipping Sauce:

DIRECTIONS

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F.

If you have whole chicken wings, cut off wingtips and cut the wings in half at the joint. Discard wingtips or freeze to make stock at a later time.

Place the wings in a large bowl. Sprinkle five-spice powder and cayenne on the wings, add a few pinches of salt and about 15 grinds of black pepper. Rub the mixture into all the wings until no more loose rub remains. Wash your hands.

Line the wing pieces up on a baking sheet so the side of the wing that has the most skin is facing up. Roast until cooked through, browned and crispy, about 25 minutes. Serve hot with Creamy Cilantro Dipping Sauce

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1/4 cup light sour cream

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup yogurt

1/2 lemon, juiced

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine ingredients in mixing bowl. Whisk ingredients to incorporate them fully and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Yield: about 1 cup