Five spice turkey wings

It's been quite a long while since the last time I cooked five spice meat dishes. Hubby likes the five spices very much. Apparently, five-spice is just a generic name for a combination of spices, which generally include: star of anise, cinnamon, clove, dried rind of tangerine, and Sichuan peppers. The exact combination of the spices seem to vary from one's preference to another's. This spice combination is particularly for slow cooking meats. Traditionally, the pot of 5-spice sauce is never replaced. The longer it is used, the better its flavor. Spices are replenished periodically. I usually save the sauce for a few batches of cooking, but not indefinitely. The sauce is most flavorful after the second or third batch of cooking.

Recipe: Five spice turkey wings (6 wings)

Ingredients:
- 2 lb turkey wing portions, with tips
- 1/4 cup whole star of anise
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 4 whole cloves or allspice
- 1 piece of whole aged ginger, about 3 inch-long
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup Xiaoxing cooking wine
- 2 tp sugar
- 1/4 cup dark soy sauce
- 1/4 cup light soy sauce
- 1/2 tp salt (see below)
- water

Procedure:
1. Cut turkey wings at the joints to separate wings from tips. Do not discard tips.
2. Blanch wings and tips in boiling water for a few minutes.

To cook from scratch:
3. Mix all sauce ingredients (except salt) with blanched wings and tips in a pot. Add water to barely cover all the pieces of meat. Bring to a hard boil on high heat. Then turn heat down to medium. Allow to boil for 5 minutes.
4. Then turn heat down to low or med-low. At this point, it is important that the flavor of the liquid is slightly more salty than desired of the meat. Add salt accordingly, and stir. Cover pot with lid and allow to barely simmer for 30 minutes.
5. Turn heat off. Allow the covered pot to sit on stove top until cool.
6. Remove wings and tips from pot. Allow to drain and cool.
7. Reboil the cooking liquid. Bottle it and allow to cool. Then chill for future use.

To cook from prepared 5-spice sauce:
3. Heat of sauce with wings together in one pot. Add water to make sure all meat is covered. When the liquid has boiled, add a portion of the spices as desired to replenish the flavor. Be generous with the replenishment of soy sauces, salt and sugar, as they get absorbed fast at each batch of cooking.
Proceed with Step 4 above.

In this type of cooking, the boney parts of meat, which are usually not eaten, can add great flavor to the sauce. Therefore, they should be cooked together, and may be discarded afterwards if not served.