all about spices and herbs

Illicium Verum



Star anise is a star-shaped, eight-pointed pod from an evergreen tree grown in northern Vietnam. It has the pungent flavor of aniseed or licorice. Used most often in soups (pho, in particular) or other recipes requiring long simmering. Star anise is available whole or ground. If use whole, discard before serving.

Family: illiciaceae
Synonyms: chinese anise, bunga lawang, pekak
Forms of use: fruits, whole or ground
Origin: star anise is native to southern China and North Vietnam. Today, it is cultivated in Cambodia, Laos, Japan, and the Philippines as well.
Aroma: star anise smells like anise but its taste is fuller, fiercer and deeper.
Use: In Chinese cuisine, star anise is used to spice pork, duck and goose meat. Europeans use it to spice gingerbread, stewed plums and pears and sweet dishes as well as Christmas tea and mulled wine. The oil is used instead of anise oil in candies and baked goods, ices and liquors.
Buying/storing: Star anise is available in spice stores or in well-supplied supermarkets. Whole fruits stored in an air-proof container in a dark, dry place will keep their aroma for a few years. Ground star anise loses its taste faster.
Properties: Star anise is definitely a beautiful spice. It is a star-shaped fruit of an evergreen tree, which can grow up to 26 feet high and live to be more than 100 years old. It bears red-brown, corky-woody, star-shaped fruit starting from its seventh year. You can find chestnut brown, glossy, seeds inside. A single star anise tree bears up to 88 lb of fruit in one year. When they are dried in the sun, they lose about three-quarters of their weight. It is not the seeds but the walls of the fruit which possess the flavor. Chinese anise is rich in essential oils, anethole in particular. It is used in food preparation and medicinally as a carminative. Star anise is unrelated to common anise.
Related species: Botanically, star anise is not related to anise, but they do have similar taste.
Mythology: Sir Thomas Cavendish, an English navigator, brought star anise from Philippines to Plymouth on sept 9th 1588. In Europe, it started as a tea spice in the court of the Russian tsar in th 17th century. Its genus name “Illicinum” is derived from the Latin word ‘illicere’, or ‘attract’.
Medicinal use: Chew star anise after eating to promote digestion and to freshen your breath. It should help with flatulence, coughing and bronchitis.

TIPS FOR COOKING:
Insert a piece of star anise inside the chicken or duck and it will have spicy sweet aroma. Star anise can be combined with ginger, cinnamon, cloves, pepper and soy sauce.