La badiane - Star Anise
Presenting new creatures:
Who has not been puzzled and intrigued by the shape and the strong smell of a star anise? Such an elegant shape, playful, powerfully fragrant.
It belongs to this not-so-known group of spices that according to me, deserves a larger attention.
A few days ago, I was making my regular batch of yogurt, and following Philip's wise suggestion, I decided to use star anise in the yogurt preparation. During the process making, that is when the milk was brought to a boiling point, I added 2 pieces of star anise to flavour the milk. The result was very nice. I was unsure about the amount to add, and have to say that I could have gone with more than 2 for 4 cups of milk.
But here is a bit of background about this fascinating spice:
The Spice
Star anise (Chinese star anise) is a spice which consists of the dried fruit of the Illicium verum, coming from a slender evergreen tree of the family Illicaceae related to Magnoliacea. As suggested by its name, it takes the shape of a star with between five and ten pointed boat-shaped sections (eight on average). These hard sections are called seed pods- they all contain a brown seed-, with a tough skinned and rust coloured (or dark reddish brown) and measure about to 1/4” long. The star shaped fruits are harvested just before ripening and dried. They are available whole, or ground. Their cultivation is almost entirely confined to S. China and parts of SE Asia.
Flavour
Powerful, more pungent and stronger than anise, evocative of a bitter aniseed, of which flavour star anise is a harsher version.
Culinary use
Whole stars can be used as such or they can be grounded as well. A note to keep in mind, because of its powerful flavour, only small amounts are used.
This spice is widely used in Chinese cuisine, and to a lesser degree in South Asia and Indonesia. Star anise is an ingredient of the traditional five-spice powder of Chinese cooking. It is also one of the ingredients used to make the broth for the Vietnamese noodle soup called phở.
It is used a lot in sweetmeats and confectionery, but also in meat dishes such as pork, duck and poultry. For example, in Chinese red cooking, where the ingredients are simmered for a long time in dark soy sauces, star anise is almost always added to beef and chicken dishes. Chinese stocks and soups very often contain the spice.
Medical facts
Star anise has carminative, stomachic, stimulant and diuretic properties ; it is used in a tea as a remedy for colic and rheumatism, and the seeds are sometimes chewed after meals to aid digestion.
It is also a common flavouring for medicinal teas, cough mixtures and pastilles.
It is worth noticing that Japanese star anise (Illicium anisatum), a similar tree, is not edible because it is highly toxic. In Japan, people use it as incense to be burned.
So here we are. I think this spice deserves a bigger room in my kitchen.
Keiko from Nordljus uses it in a delicious summer vegetable dish, to prepare a vegetable nage.
As one of my 2006 cooking resolutions, I decided that I would use star anise more, starting in crème brûlée, because, yes I can make this confession, I love crème brûlée, and my hubbie is a master at making it! I just need to convince him...
Who has not been puzzled and intrigued by the shape and the strong smell of a star anise? Such an elegant shape, playful, powerfully fragrant.
It belongs to this not-so-known group of spices that according to me, deserves a larger attention.
A few days ago, I was making my regular batch of yogurt, and following Philip's wise suggestion, I decided to use star anise in the yogurt preparation. During the process making, that is when the milk was brought to a boiling point, I added 2 pieces of star anise to flavour the milk. The result was very nice. I was unsure about the amount to add, and have to say that I could have gone with more than 2 for 4 cups of milk.
But here is a bit of background about this fascinating spice:
The Spice
Star anise (Chinese star anise) is a spice which consists of the dried fruit of the Illicium verum, coming from a slender evergreen tree of the family Illicaceae related to Magnoliacea. As suggested by its name, it takes the shape of a star with between five and ten pointed boat-shaped sections (eight on average). These hard sections are called seed pods- they all contain a brown seed-, with a tough skinned and rust coloured (or dark reddish brown) and measure about to 1/4” long. The star shaped fruits are harvested just before ripening and dried. They are available whole, or ground. Their cultivation is almost entirely confined to S. China and parts of SE Asia.
Flavour
Powerful, more pungent and stronger than anise, evocative of a bitter aniseed, of which flavour star anise is a harsher version.
Culinary use
Whole stars can be used as such or they can be grounded as well. A note to keep in mind, because of its powerful flavour, only small amounts are used.
This spice is widely used in Chinese cuisine, and to a lesser degree in South Asia and Indonesia. Star anise is an ingredient of the traditional five-spice powder of Chinese cooking. It is also one of the ingredients used to make the broth for the Vietnamese noodle soup called phở.
It is used a lot in sweetmeats and confectionery, but also in meat dishes such as pork, duck and poultry. For example, in Chinese red cooking, where the ingredients are simmered for a long time in dark soy sauces, star anise is almost always added to beef and chicken dishes. Chinese stocks and soups very often contain the spice.
Medical facts
Star anise has carminative, stomachic, stimulant and diuretic properties ; it is used in a tea as a remedy for colic and rheumatism, and the seeds are sometimes chewed after meals to aid digestion.
It is also a common flavouring for medicinal teas, cough mixtures and pastilles.
It is worth noticing that Japanese star anise (Illicium anisatum), a similar tree, is not edible because it is highly toxic. In Japan, people use it as incense to be burned.
So here we are. I think this spice deserves a bigger room in my kitchen.
Keiko from Nordljus uses it in a delicious summer vegetable dish, to prepare a vegetable nage.
As one of my 2006 cooking resolutions, I decided that I would use star anise more, starting in crème brûlée, because, yes I can make this confession, I love crème brûlée, and my hubbie is a master at making it! I just need to convince him...
13 Comments
P penglobe ·
I Ivonne ·
O Oliver ·
S sam ·
F flo ·
K Kudzu ·
B Béa ·
K keiko ·
B Béa ·
L Louise Butt ·
F faruq ·
S Scott ·
H Huw ·