Description

Star Anise whole also known as Chinese anise, native from the southwest China and used in Chinese and southeast Asian cuisines as Vietnamese cooking. Star anise, is a star shaped fruit that is considered an essential ingredient in Chinese duck and pork recipes. Its liquorice-like flavour is similar to that of aniseed and fennel. It has a slightly stronger flavour and aroma than the regular anise and it has the similar sweet and licorice flavour as the Spanish anise seed. Due to its beautiful star shaped form with eight points and deep dark reddish brown hue, it is an attractive garnish. It has a sweet warm, clovey, liquorice flavour and deep aroma. Used to add flavour to tea, soups, stir fries and curries, while the ground star anise is a dominant ingredient in Chinese five-spice powder.

Culinary Notes: 

Star anise is often used to flavour slow-cooked dishes in Indian and Chinese cuisine. A single star anise can be used to flavour an entire soup, chicken, duck and pork. It can also be reused. The whole star anise pieces are used for garnishes in many dishes or even in a cup of tea. If you need ground star anise, you can grind the whole stars, as some stir-fries also call for the use of ground star anise.

• Use to flavor tea, marinades, and soups.
• Use star anise in baking, meat rubs, and bbq sauce.
• Use star anise in fruit compotes and jams and syrup recipes.
• Add flavour to stewed compotes of fruit when placed in whole during cooking.
• Add a star anise into the chicken or duck to get the spicy sweet Chinese flavour.
• Add to Indian stews and curries.
• Add whole when cooking rice for pulaos and biryanis.
• Use in in confectionery, to impart a mild sweetness and spicy flavour.

Health benefits: 

Star Anise whole has several health benefits as it has stomachic, stimulant and diuretic properties. It helps to treat abdominal pain and digestive disturbances. It has anti-bacterial, anti-oxidants and anti-fungal properties. It can be also used as a natural breath freshener by sucking one of the stars.

How to Select: 

Try to select high quality star anise whole that is not broken, with its distinctive aroma and its dark reddish brown colour. Store Star Anise Whole in an airtight container, in a cool, dark place away from heat and light for up to two years.

Recipe links: 

Country of origin : 

China

Other names or spelling: Badian (Spanish), Chinese Anise. Illicium verum, Anise Stars, Badiana, anis de la Chine (French), anise étoilé (French), badiane (French), Sternanis (German) , anice stellato (Italian), anis estrellado (Spanish), ba chio, ba(ht) g(h)ok (Chinese), bart gok, pa-chiao (Chinese), pak kok, peh kah (Chinese), bunga lawang (Indonesian), bunga lawing (Malay).