Five Spice Syrup Question

I finally got some Chinese Five Spice powder and wanted to try mixing up some China Clippers for the Lunar New Year tomorrow. However, there seems to be a little bit of discrepancy on the amount of five spice power used.

The recipe listed by Blair Reynolds says to use 1 Tablespoon of five spice powder: http://www.tradertiki.com/mxmo-spice/

However, I've also seen the recipe as using 1 rounded teaspoon of five spice powder: http://www.kaiserpenguin.com/tiki-crawl-vi/ and http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=48660&forum=10&start=15&hilite=five%20spice%20syrup

Anyone know which is correct? I thought the recipe might be in the Smuggler's Cove book, but I'm assuming since Martin Cate came up with it at Forbidden Island, it wasn't eligible to be included in the book.

Any help would be appreciated!

Hey, I hosted that month of MxMo! Small world!

In my opinion, the good news is that the difference won't necessarily matter. Different brands of five-spice powder each have their own profile. When you make your syrup you will most likely wish to adjust for your own taste; Even making the same recipe with the same ingredients can be inconsistent.

I would suggest trying the rounded teaspoon in KP's recipe as a starting point and see what you think.

Cheers!

Thanks Melintur! I wasn't sure if it was a typo or just two takes on the same recipe.

We celebrated Chinese New Year last night and made China Clippers. I didn't find a recipe I liked so I just eyeballed it. I used a cup of water, a cup of demerara sugar and dumped in some Five Spice powder. I also added a couple star anise, a few whole cloves, and a broken up stick of cinnamon. I brought them to a boil and then left them on very low heat for about half an hour. I strained out the big chunks but didn't try to filter out the powder, it will continue to add flavor. It turned out great.

If you're looking for a cool presentation, try serving them in paper take-out containers. I got 100 blank ones at Smart and Final for about $6. You can give guests a red Sharpie and let them decorate them with their names and Chinese themed graphics.

Aren't you in California?
You could get a year in the pen for those plastic straws.

Ha ha! Talk about serendipity--I just picked up a jar of 5-spice powder yesterday to attempt the syrup. You guys have saved me a good bit of searching the ol' interwebz. Thanks!

Mike, very nice presentation with the takeout boxes. Nice pic. And your syrup sounds delicious. Great job!