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Native to northeastern Vietnam and eastern China, star anise is now grown in China, France, India, Italy, Jamaica, Laos, Morocco, the Philippines and Spain with the major exporters located in China and Vietnam. Our Organic Star Anise is imported from China.
One of the most spectacular looking spices, Star Anise is also called anise star, Chinese anise and star aniseed. The Chinese translation for Star Anise means “eight points” and these points are also referred to as carpals, petals or arms. With its classic star shape, the aroma of Star Anise is similar to anise seed and fennel but slightly more pungent. The taste is a bit sweet with licorice undertones and it provides a mild numbing effect in the mouth. Star Anise, like aniseed gets its distinctive licorice taste from the chemical compound anethol. Star Anise is actually the fruit of an evergreen tree (Illicium Verum) in the Magnolia family. Star Anise is the tree’s seed pod which is about inch in diameter and is a dark brown to rust color. Organic Star Anise is very versatile and works well in baked goods, chilled desserts, sauces, soups, stews and with red meats. Best when used as an accent flavor as a single point can add wonderful, complex layers of flavor and aroma. Helpful hint: do not to use too much as it can easily overpower. Star Anise is a favorite of bakers and unlike most spices its flavor seamlessly infuses into fat and water-based liquids, making it perfect to add to both butter and fruit-based desserts. Use it in your next apple pie, gingerbread or spice cake recipe and they’ll be asking for your secret. Star Anise also plays a leading role in the popular spice blend Chinese Five Spice and in several versions of Garam Masala and Masala Chai. Whole Star Anise will last for 2-3 years and you can easily break off arms as needed. These pieces are large enough that you won’t have any trouble picking them out of your dish before serving (we love to add several petals to rice when it’s cooking). Since the stars are either removed or infused completely into the dish it doesn’t make sense to pay the high premium some spice companies charge to purchase perfectly formed stars. You pay a premium for the unnecessary hand sifting as they separate broken and whole pieces. You should avoid star anise that has excessive amounts of large woody stems or leaves as this signifies a lower quality product. We use 3-5 Star Anise petals in each dish for stir fries or curries and 2-3 points for each quart of liquid when pickling. We prefer Ground Star Anise for baking. To substitute for anise seed use about 1/3 of what the recipe calls for. Star Anise goes well with chicken (especially in stock), fish, figs, citrus fruits, leeks, oxtail, pork, pumpkin and root vegetables. Star Anise works well in combination with cassia cinnamon, chili powder, coriander, fennel, garlic, ginger, lemon grass and Sichuan peppercorns. We also carry (a non Organic) Star Anise. |
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