Aromatic, sweet and salty, this seasoning can be used to great effect with fried chicken, ribs, chips or mini spring rolls.
Heat a dry wok or large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the sea salt and whole star anise. Dry-fry the salt, stirring often, until the salt changes colour and becomes a little darker (this should take around 10 minutes). Set aside to cool completely (be careful, the toasted salt will be VERY hot).
Once the toasted salt is completely cool, add it to a large bowl. Add the monosodium glutamate, caster sugar, white pepper, ginger powder, Chinese 5-spice powder, extra hot chilli powder and smoked garlic powder. Mix well and pour the salt and pepper mix into a shaker or a food-safe container.
The salt and pepper seasoning mix is now ready to use and can be stored in a lidded container - for one portion, I generally use around 1 teaspoon of seasoning.