Cooking with more than ginger in Alice's Apothecary Ginger
Alice Sun (@alicecsun) shares a unique view into her life through the ways she uses food to nurture wellness, cross cultural divides, and bring people together, all through the medium of storytelling.
Alice Sun•
December 1, 2025
Growing up with a sensitive tummy in a Chinese family was the perfect combination. My culture always had a solution, with so many more herbal options outside of ginger! And honestly, sometimes ginger just isn’t enough to help with the more intense bloated days.
That’s where five spice powder comes in, a spice blend that’s actually deeply medicinal in Chinese cooking. While most people know it as the seasoning that makes roast duck taste rich and complex, in Chinese medicinal cooking, it’s a digestive powerhouse. The blend usually includes star anise, cloves, cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorn, and fennel seeds, and together they form a complete cycle of flavors that mirror the balance of the five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water.
Each spice brings something to the table. Fennel moves qi and eases bloating, star anise and cloves warm the stomach and activate digestion, while Sichuan peppercorn activates circulation and awaken the senses, and the cinnamon nourishes yang energy, helping the body digest and absorb warmth more efficiently. The five spices work together to support the body’s natural rhythm of digestion.
Add a bit of the five spices to every day cooking, like your roasted veggies, and you’ll be supporting the body’s natural digestion on the daily. Plus, it’s warming, comforting, and makes your kitchen smell perfectly cozy for the season.
But while most recipes use it in savory cooking, my favorite way to enjoy it is actually cooking it down with fruit! The sweetness of the fruit is perfectly balanced by the smokiness of the spices. Take your favorite fall fruit, mine’s persimmon at the moment, and caramelize it with a bit of five spice powder over the stove to create the perfect cozy treat.
Start by peeling the persimmons (2), then thinly slice on a mandolin or by hand.
Add oil (2 tsp) to a pan to heat up and add the spices (1 tsp) to the oil to bloom.
Once you smell the fragrant spices, add in the persimmons evenly to the pan.
Mix in the sugar (1 Tbsp) alongside the persimmons to caramelize and add a bit of vinegar (2 Tbsp) to deglaze if needed. (but vinegar is not necessary)
Once the fruit is looking a bit browned, it’s ready!
For the pancakes, mix in baking powder (1 tsp) to pancake mix (1 cup) to make them nice and fluffy.
Pour in the milk (1 cup) and mix till just combined, lumps are fine.
Cook pancakes till golden brown.
To assemble, add 1 Tbsp of yogurt on a pancake, the simmer persimmons, then stack with another pancake, yogurt, and persimmons — top with maple syrup (to taste) and butter (to taste) if desired.
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