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Anise pods come from an aromatic eastern Asian evergreen tree (Illicium verum) having purple-red flowers and starlike clusters of anise-scented fruit. The fruit of this plant, used in Asian cooking and medicine.Native to China and Vietnam, star anise is today grown almost exclusively in southern China, Indo-China, and Japan. It was first introduced into Europe in the seventeenth century. The oil, produced by a process of steam extraction, is substituted for European aniseed in commercial drinks.
Spice Description - Star anise is the unusual fruit of a small oriental tree. It is, as the name suggests, star shaped, radiating between five and ten pointed boat-shaped sections, about eight on average. These hard sections are seed pods. Tough skinned and rust coloured, they measure up to 3cm (1-1/4”) long. The fruit is picked before it can ripen, and dried. The stars are available whole, or ground to a red-brown powder.
Bouquet: Powerful and liquorice-like, more pungent and stronger than anise.
Flavor - Evocative of a bitter aniseed, of which flavour star anise is a harsher version. Nervertheless, the use of star anise ensures an authentic touch in the preparation of certain Chinese dishes.
Hotness Scale: 3
Preparation and Storage - The whole stars can be added directly to the cooking pot; pieces are variously referred to as segments, points and sections. Otherwise, grind the whole stars as required. Small amounts are used, as the spice is powerful. Stored whole in airtight containers, it keeps for well over a year.
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Culinary Uses - Star anise is used in the East as aniseed is in the West. Apart from its use in sweetmeats and confectionery, where sweeteners must be added, it contributes to meat and poultry dishes, combining especially well with pork and duck. In Chinese red cooking, where the ingredients are simmered for a lengthy period in dark soy sauce, star anise is nearly always added to beef and chicken dishes. Chinese stocks and soups very often contain the spice.. It flavours marbled eggs, a decorative Chinese hors d’oeuvre or snack. Mandarins with jaded palates chew the whole dried fruit habitually as a post-prandial digestant and breath sweetener - an oriental comfit. In the West, star anise is added in fruit compotes and jams, and in the manufacture of anise-flavoured liqueurs, the best known being anisette. It is an ingredient of the mixture known as “Chinese Five Spices”.
Attributed Medicinal Properties - Like anise, star anise has carminative, stomachic, stimulant and diuretic properties. In the East it is used to support colic and rheumatism relief. It is a common flavouring for medicinal teas, cough mixtures and pastilles.
Anise Star Fruit Salad Recipe!
Create a simple indulgence for mom with a combination of sliced kiwifruit, oranges and strawberries in a cool orange juice mixture. Drizzled with sweetened condensed milk, this dish is sure to please.
Estimated Times
Preparation Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 7 mins
Cooling Time: 4 hrs refrigerating
Servings: 6
Ingredients:
2 cups peeled and thinly sliced kiwifruit
2 cups peeled orange sections
2 cups sliced strawberries
1 cup fresh orange juice
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
6 whole star anise pods
Sweetened Condensed Milk
Directions - Place kiwifruit, oranges and strawberries in large bowl; set aside. Mix orange juice, sugar and anise pods in small saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Remove anise pods; reserve for garnish. Cool orange juice mixture; pour over fruit salad. Refrigerate for 4 hours.
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