Lu spice bundle
Also known as lu liao bao, lou mei spice, lou seui spice, master stock spices, Chinese braising spices
Whole-spice mix
Quick answer
The whole spices simmered in a Chinese master stock — star anise and cassia at the core, with fennel, cloves, Sichuan pepper, sand ginger, tsaoko, round cardamom, liquorice or dried tangerine peel by region. Tied in a cloth, replaced as they tire, while the stock is kept.
In essentially every version: Star anise, Cassia, Fennel seed.
2 distinct versions are set out below. None of them is presented as the correct one, because there isn’t one.
What goes in it
The defining core first, then the versions, with what each ingredient is there to do.
| Ingredient | Role | How essential |
|---|---|---|
| Star anise (whole)The lead in almost every version, and the note that makes braised meat taste Chinese. | primary aromatic | defining |
| Cassia (bark)Chinese cassia bark rather than true cinnamon: stronger, and able to stand hours of simmering. | primary aromatic | defining |
| Fennel seed (whole) | supporting aromatic | usual |
| Cloves (whole)A few at most; cloves take over a stock quickly. | supporting aromatic | optional |
High, by region and by cook. Sichuan and northern stocks add Sichuan pepper and often dried chillies; Cantonese lou seui leans on liquorice, dried tangerine peel and sand ginger and uses more sugar; Chaozhou braised goose adds galangal. Tsaoko, round cardamom and bay leaf appear in many bundles and no one list is canonical. Premixed bundles sold in shops add further medicinal-herb ingredients that household cooks often leave out.
The versions
Each attributed to whoever describes it. The sources say what goes in and how it is made and give no amounts, so none are shown.
Sichuan and northern master-stock bundle
Regional traditionSichuan and northern Chinese household and restaurant practice · no amounts given · medium confidence
The fuller bundle: star anise, cassia, fennel and Sichuan pepper, with tsaoko, sand ginger and round cardamom, for braising beef shin, tripe, pork and eggs.
Made with: Star anise, Cassia, Fennel seed, Sichuan pepper, Tsaoko, Sand ginger (shajiang), Round cardamom. The source gives no amounts, so none are shown.
Cantonese lou seui bundle
Regional traditionCantonese and Hong Kong practice · no amounts given · low confidence
A sweeter, more fragrant stock for soy chicken, duck and offal, with liquorice and dried tangerine peel and without Sichuan pepper.
Made with: Star anise, Cassia, Liquorice root, Dried tangerine peel (chenpi), Sand ginger (sa geung), Cloves. The source gives no amounts, so none are shown.
Recorded at low confidence: well attested in outline, and no source held here documents a version.
Using it
Tie the spices in muslin, simmer them in the stock with the meat, and lift them out. When the stock is kept, it is brought to the boil and strained between uses, and the bundle is replaced every few batches as its aroma fades.
Anise-led and warm, with cassia’s sweetness and, depending on the version, the numbing edge of Sichuan pepper or the bittersweet of dried peel. Diffused through soy and sugar over hours, it reads as a savoury depth rather than as individual spices.
None in Cantonese versions; mild numbing and heat in Sichuan ones.
- Braised beef shin and tripe
- Soy-braised chicken and duck
- Pork belly and trotters
- Eggs and tofu
Scaling: Scaled by eye rather than by ratio. The spices are strong and the stock is concentrated; a single star anise and a finger of cassia season a litre or more, and more is not better over a long braise.
Storage
Good for: not established
Cool, dark, dry and sealed; the whole spices keep well.
Old spices are a quality matter. A kept stock is a food-safety matter of its own: it is boiled between uses and refrigerated, as any stock is.
Allergens and safety
Not among the substances that must be declared as allergens under EU Regulation 1169/2011 Annex II or under the United States major food allergen rules. That is a statement about labelling law and not about whether allergy occurs: allergic reactions to spices are documented in the clinical literature and are simply not a labelling category. Where a ground spice presents an allergen risk it is usually through adulteration or shared processing equipment rather than through the plant itself.
Culture and origin
Chinese, across regions. The master stock — lushui in Sichuan and the north, lou seui in Cantonese — is a braising liquid of soy, rice wine, rock sugar and aromatics that is kept and reused, and the spices are the part that is refreshed.
The kept stock
A master stock is valued for being kept: restaurants and households maintain one for years, boiling it between uses, adding fresh soy, sugar and spices, and speaking of its age. The spices are the part that is renewed, which is why the bundle is sold and assembled as a separate thing.