"I remember 15 years or so ago that to buy five-spice we always went to a Chinese herbal medicine shop, where the shopkeeper would make up the mixture on the spot from the individual spices, just like filling a herbal prescription," recalls cookery expert Theresa Lin. It was only when she came to use this mixture at home that she would sew up little gauze bags and measure the mixture into them.
「記得十幾年前買五香都是上中藥鋪去，請老闆像捉中藥方子一樣，單樣、單味的現場調配而成」，烹飪專家林慧懿回憶，買回家使用時，自己才以紗布縫個小口袋，將材料裝成包。