- Welcome to the "Spice Show."
Our guest of honor today is cinnamon.
I think most of us know and love cinnamon.
We love it in our oatmeal, in our baked goods,
in all of our coffee cakes,
and cinnamon buns, and horchata.
Ooh, the list goes on and on.
Most of the time, we go and we just buy ground cinnamon,
but did you know that there are actually 250 species
(bell dinging) of cinnamon?
There are a lot of cinnamon and some of them
do taste quite different from others.
So what exactly is cinnamon?
Tree bark.
Specifically it's the inner bark
of a group of evergreen trees.
The bark is stripped, then dried, then rolled
into these little sticks called quills.
I actually have a lot of varieties of cinnamon on hand,
but most of them aren't labeled specifically
what kind of cinnamon they are.
(upbeat jazz music)
The three that I do have on hand today are Korintje,
Saigon and Ceylon.
And only one of these is true cinnamon.
Korintje, AKA Indonesian cinnamon, scientific name
Cinnamomum burmannii,
and Saigon cinnamon, AKA Vietnamese cinnamon,
Cinnamomum loureiroi?
Very sorry, I'm not a scientist
and I don't know how to speak Latin.
These two are actually imposters.
(dramatic music)
Well, not really,
but they are Cassia and not true cinnamon.
Most of the cinnamon that were sold is Cassia.
You can see that Cassia cinnamon
are a little bit darker
in color than the Ceylon cinnamon.
You can also see that Cassia quills
are deeper and sturdier than Ceylon quills
which are flakier and more fragile.
Even when ground, you can see
that Cassia has a coarser texture
than the much finer Ceylon.
Most of the cinnamon that we find in stores are Cassia
because Cassia is much cheaper to produce.
Ceylon, on the other hand,
being thinner and much more fragile,
makes it much more labor-intensive to produce
and therefore more expensive.
(cash register dings)
Price, however, does not always dictate
better or worse.
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Each of these has a slightly different
flavor profile suited to different recipes and
to different palettes and different people,
and different preferences.
(jazzy music playing)
As far as what's true cinnamon,
you're looking at it.
Ceylon cinnamon from Sri Lanka is true cinnamon,
Latin name, Cinnamomom verum.
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Depending on the quality of your cinnamon,
the flavors can vary widely
even if they're the same type of cinnamon.
Korintja. Saigon. Ceylon.
At the end of the day after tasting all of them,
if you ask me if I have a favorite for all-time
the answer is no.
They all have pleasant flavors on their own
and different characteristics to contribute
to different dishes.
So excited to play with these.
In fact, after tasting these, I kind of feel
like Korintje is my favorite now.
You're always allowed to change your mind,
you know?
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Depending on the freshness and the quality
of your cinnamon, I would say the
spice level, out of 1 to 10, my range
from a 1 to a 3.5?
It ranks just a little under
a cracked black pepper.
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In terms of health benefits,
Cinnamon contains flavonoids
which have antioxidant properties,
which some studies have shown to be effective
in lowering blood cholesterol and blood sugar.
Cassia has been used as a dietary supplement
as far back as 2,700 BC.
Before it made its way to Europe,
it was used by ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Hebrews
as a cooking spice, a perfume,
and some medicinal additions to their diet.
Even today it's used as a warming spice
in Ayurvedic traditions
and traditional Chinese medicine
to balance imbalance in the body.
It's said to help with menstrual cycles,
poor digestion, lots of other ailments.
Take note, though,
because you can definitely have
too much of a good thing.
Cumerin is a compound found in cinnamon
that is a blood thinning agent
that can do liver damage
if you eat too much of it.
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So how exactly do you use this delightful spice?
I do have a few favorites,
and yes, my stomach is gurgling
because cinnamon makes me hungry.
My feeling is, in the North American diet,
cinnamon is often known and used as a sweet spice.
But, coming from a Chinese background,
cinnamon is actually used as a savory spice.
In fact, I remember when we first immigrated here
my parents were shocked and kind of disgusted to
find that cinnamon is so prevalent
in so many American sweets.
All right.
If you're as hungry as I am, let's get started
on a day's worth of cinnamon recipes.
So I don't know about you, but first things first
when I wake up, I want a beverage.
(light banjo music)
I'm not a coffee drinker, but I do have friends
who say they like to put cinnamon in their coffee.
But for me, I like to go caffeine-free first thing
in the morning,
and especially in the winter time, there's nothing
more comforting than a bowl of warmed milk.
In a medium pot, I like to dry toast my spices
until I can smell their fragrance coming off.
And then I pour in some milk, add in some sugar, stir it
until it starts to steam and billow just a little bit.
And that's that. So simple.
So delicious.
(mugs bumping)
Do you like it?
- Yeah
(together laughing)
- If after my milk, I decide I'm still pretty hungry
and I'm ready for breakfast, apple cinnamon oatmeal it is.
For my apples, I take a small pot.
I plop in a little bit of butter.
I throw in my apples.
I go in with a little bit of brown sugar, a bit of cinnamon,
a tad of salt, and I just let it stir, stir, stir,
cook, cook, cook, until it's nice and saucy and glossy
and jammy-looking.
I set it aside and I start on my oats.
For my oatmeal, I like to toast the oats first
in the pan.
When you're toasting your oats,
you want to make sure you're
constantly flipping, tossing, mixing them so
that no single grain of oat is going to get burnt.
We want them all evenly golden and toasty.
And then I go in with a little bit of flax seeds
and wheat bran, you know, for added health.
And then we go in with our milk and water.
A little pinch of salt and optionally raisins.
I know, controversial. I like them.
If you don't, leave them out.
Towards the end of the cooking, I like to fold in
my cooked apples, and then we can top
with a little bit more brown sugar to taste.
I love this oatmeal, because you have cinnamon
in the apples, and you have cinnamon in the oats,
and you really can't miss out on that sentiment at all.
(banjo music playing)
Sweet, spicy, fruity, hearty, nutritious, delicious.
For lunch.
How about a nice hearty chili?
And if you're thinking cinnamon and chili,
I say, yes, why not?
If you've ever heard of a dish called Cincinnati chili,
which actually isn't a chili at all,
you'd know that Cincinnati chili has cinnamon
along with lots of other spices in there.
It's often piled on top of spaghetti or on top of hot dogs.
And it is a sauce onto itself.
Not necessarily served in a bowl,
but you know what, today I'm going to have
some chili in a bowl, and I'm going to put
a little bit of cinnamon in it,
inspired by Cincinnati chili.
In a large pot, I'm going to add a little bit
of olive oil, going with a little bit of onion,
a little bit of garlic.
We're going to stir, stir, stir those around.
And then we're going to go in with our spices.
That includes some allspice, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon,
and we're going to go in with a little bit of fennel seeds
and black pepper as well.
I also like the slight funk of white pepper.
So a dash of that,
and then we'll go in with our tomato products.
I have some leftover tomato sauce
in my fridge that I need to get rid of.
I'm going to squirt in some ketchup in there
for that sweet, tart, salty combo.
Then we'll go in with some canned tomatoes
as well as a little bit of Sriracha for that spicy kick.
(stirring)
Then you'll go in with about three cups of protein,
whatever you want. Put it in there.
I don't care.
Just make yourself happy.
If you like your chili a little bit looser,
go in with some broth of any kind and just give it a stir,
and wait for everything to get nice and cozy.
(stirring)
(cheese grating)
(upbeat music playing)
All of the warming spices
give this chili a super, super comforting feel.
Chili is already pretty comforting, but this,
this just takes it up a notch.
And if you feel like you
didn't get enough cinnamon in there,
well just sprinkle some on.
See if you can taste the difference in this chili.
- The difference is cinnamon, isn't it?
I knew that already.
- Do you want more cinnamon on top?
- No.
- Are you sure?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
- It's a really exciting flavor too.
Excellent work.
- I love it.
Spicy, earthy, sweet and slightly floral.
This chili is really definitely different.
As with all chilis and stews, the best thing about this
is it's even better the day after.
I hope you are still on the cinnamon train with me,
because we're going to go into dinner right now
with some cinnamon rice and cinnamon chicken.
Because Chinese five spice powder often
has cinnamon in it already, I thought it would be
a great idea to up that cinnamon content in our five spice
and rub some chicken legs with it.
So for the chicken and a large bowl, we're going to
mix together some five spice, some extra cinnamon.
We're going to go in with some onion powder,
garlic powder, and baking powder.
Baking powder kind of makes your chicken skin crisp up
a little bit more when it contacts heat.
Once that's all mixed, go in with a little bit of soy sauce,
a little bit of rice wine vinegar,
along with some brown sugar, and a drizzle of Sesame oil.
Give it a nice, good stir until everything's good.
And then toss in your bone-in, skin-on chicken legs.
Let those drumsticks get nice
and coated and then let it rest.
Let those flavors soak into that meat.
Meanwhile, on the stove top
we're gonna start our cinnamon rice.
In your rice pot, go in with a tablespoon of olive oil,
throw in a stick of cinnamon in there,
and let it get nice and toasty.
Then we're gonna go in
with a little bit of Sichuan peppercorns,
a little bit of black pepper, white pepper,
as well as cumin seeds.
We're gonna let those toast very briefly
before going in with our ginger, minced, and garlic.
As soon as your ginger and garlic turn a little bit golden,
we're gonna toss in our rice.
We're going to let that rice get slightly, slightly golden.
If you're watching your sodium intake, don't do this.
But I like to go in with a little bit of both kosher salt
and MSG, and then we'll hit it with our water.
Bring it up to a simmer, slap a lid on it,
turn your heat to low, and then walk away
for about 15 to 17 minutes.
We're gonna chop up some onions, maybe a little bit
of carrots, whatever vegetables you got hanging around.
We're gonna throw it into a cast iron oven-safe pan,
and we're going to nestle our chicken legs in there.
Preheat your oven to 375,
and we're gonna slide those babies in there
until they're done.
Midway through the bake, you give your chicken legs
a little tossy toss in the pan.
If it looks a little dry, go ahead and add a little touch
of oil so that they get nice and glazey,
and just make sure that you're coating them super well,
in that remaining sauce that's on the pan.
Give your vegetables a toss as well,
and put it back into the oven to finish cooking.
For the last five minutes of cooking, I really like
to blast that oven up to 450,
just so that, that skin can get a little bit crispier.
(skillet sizzling)
(upbeat music continues)
I mean, I don't know about you,
but this looks mighty good to me.
And it smells mighty good too.
The juices of the marinade and the chicken fat
co-mingling with the cumin
and the cinnamon and all of our spices and the rice
(sighs)
as for the veggies, super saucy, super fragrant.
Let's see, super tender, oh my glorious.
Oh my goodness.
Check out how juicy that is.
It just dripped all over my floor.
It is perfect.
Perfectly spiced, perfectly tender, perfectly juicy.
Will you look like an absolute mess eating it?
Yes.
Is a worth it?
And finally, if you're still hungry
you can have some snacky desserts.
How about some cinnamon sugar, sweet potato chips?
This dessert is as easy as it gets.
You take any sweet potato that you want, peel or no peel,
slice them as thin and evenly as you can.
Lay them out on a sheet tray, and then we're going to
brush them with a little bit of butter.
Once they're all brushed, we're going to take a small bowl,
and we're going to mix a little bit of sugar
with a little bit of cinnamon, and then we're going to
sprinkle them onto these chips to be.
We're gonna slide the whole tray
into a 350 degree oven, and we're going to let them bake
until they're nice and golden and slightly crispy.
In case some of your chips are thicker than others,
some may not be crispy, while others are close to burning.
So just be sure that you're picking them off
the tray as they're done.
If you like it on the sweet side, as they come out,
put a little extra cinnamon sugar
while they're still hot and give them a nice little toss.
You might want to be careful.
These are very addictive.
- Oh I love that.
(laughs)
- You can have it all.
- Bye.
(giggles)
- Thank you so much for tuning in.
I hope you enjoyed watching all the ways
in which you can use cinnamon.
And I hope you go and explore and find out
which type of cinnamon is your favorite
for different kinds of recipes.
Until next time, stay hydrated
and let me know what spice you wanna see next.
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