All I can say is, thank God I had TWO small pork loins on the grill tonight.

I usually do a normal rub or marinade for pork but tonight I got the idea
of doing an Asian style touch with all the spices that I have at my use.

Well let me just advise you that if you get the chopper/grinder unit out
and start tossing in whole 5 star seed pods into it , you just might
grind up a concoction that will over power your beautiful hunk of meat.

The "Other" loin turned out........... Fantastic".

I learned a lesson tonight.
Test a "New concoction" on a small section of meat, first.

Just shows that a cook with lots of years under his belt, does not know everything and can still get embarrassed by his presentation.

I'm ALWAYS experimenting with different spices. I made up a Moroccan blend and it works really great on chicken, lamb, even beef.

I use Emerils spice mix. Make it at home. My daughter found it in a cook book I gave her. Great on meat or eggs.

"Just shows that a cook with lots of years under his belt, does not know everything and can still get embarrassed by his presentation."

Yea, know all about it......
Some times the best of us can screw up on a food presentation.
My wife think's I'm a great chief, I just think I get lucky most of the time... LOL!
After all I got her!!!!

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Only difference Fool/Mule-ears

Some spices are more powerful than others. Generally speaking, seeds and pods are typically very powerful. Little goes a long way. Many benefit from being cut together with others that compliment the flavor. Case in point - Chinese Five Spice, of which Star Anise (which I believe you were playing with) is one of the five. Very powerful stuff. Frequently, just a smidge of this kind of spice blend can be mixed directly into an equal or larger amount of kosher salt, and THEN used as rub or seasoning without overwhelming the protein item. With almost any of these ‘hard spices’ a good rule of thumb is that a very little goes a very long way.

PS. A proper Chinese Five Spice blend cut with salt would be an excellent seasoning choice for a pork loin.

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Oui Chef!

I use both spices "Fajita Seasoning" and "Steak Seasoning".

We’ve found doubling or more the amounts suggested for spices in Paula Wolfert’s Mediterranean cook books works well for us. Stuff like Moussaka.

And then the flavor intensity depends a lot on whether the spices are fresh, fairly fresh or pretty old. So you need to kinda feel your way along.

On the other hand, I don’t like lots of spices or sauces on either basic fish or steak. If it’s a nice fresh fish, all I want is salt, pepper and lemon. If a good steak, salt and pepper.

(I am not much of a cook, but I am one helluva eater.)

Swawarma- one of assoc said have you ever made it?
I ain’t never even heard of it!
When she lived in the Netherlands, she would buy it ready to cook at a neighborhood grocery.
She thought it came from Indonesia = Netherlands.
Had trouble convincing her it’s From The Middle East!
Found a Spice Dude at the Santa Fe Flea Market who mixed several spices in a plastic bag and called it Shawarma!
So I guess I’ve it.
If you can trust spice mongers in Santa Fe.

Shawarma - Wikipedia

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

My go to spice is Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning. I'll put in on or in anything. It turned out to be just the thing to give some zip to my stuffed mushrooms and chili.

When you take the trail down to Thai -SEA food,
Which I love,
Careful with the Fermented Fish Oil!
A little dab will do you!
No matter what your recipe says, add a little at a time.
Sometimes your recipe source person might be a little more acclimated to Fish Oil than you!

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NRA LIFE MEMBER