Star Anise

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Synonyms for Star Anise include Anise Stars, Badain, Badiana, Chinese anise languages other than English: French: anis de la Chine, anise étoilé, badiane ; German: Sternanis ; Italian: anice stellato ;Spanish: anis estrllado,badian ; Chinese: ba chio, ba(ht) g(h)ok, bart gok, pa-chiao, pak kok, peh kah ; Indonesian: bunga lawang; Malay: bunga lawang

Illicium verum = Star Anise; Illicium anisatum= Japanese Star Anise

[edit] Origin

The Star Anise tree is said to have its origins in China and Vietnam. It is naturalised in southern China, Indo-China, and Japan and commercial cultivation is largely centred here. It is also grown in South India and is an important flavouring in Keralan Cuisine.

[edit] Description

Star Anise is an aromatic eastern Asian evergreen tree, the Indian almond (Illicium verum). It has purple-red flowers and star like clusters of anise-scented fruit. The fruit of this plant is used in Asian cooking and medicine.

The Chinese name of the tree echoes the shape of the fruit- that of an eight-pointed (sometimes five or even ten points) star. Each point section is boat shaped and contains a seed. This seed is used as flavouring once the fruit has been dried. The fruit is picked before it is ripe and ripened in racks. Its rust like colour only appears after it is dried. The outer surface is tough and hard and measures up to 3cm (1-1/4”).

The stars are available whole, or ground to a red-brown powder. The scent and flavour is powerful and similar to, though stronger than anise.

[edit] Culinary Usage

Uesd in both savoury and sweet foods, star anise is inseparable from traditional, authentic Chinese food. It is largely used in sweets and confectionary and also in meat, poultry,pork and duck preparations.A large number of vegetables are also stirfried with this spice, most commonly green beans. Chinese red cooking is so called because the dishes aquire a dark red, almost auburn hue after their preparation. This style of cooking involves simmering ingredients usually meats, in dark soya sauce and (usually)cane sugar (which of course provides the caramelised appearence and the sheen). Cinnamon quills and star anise are integral flavours in this cooking style.

Star anise also flavours some Chinese stocks and soups, marbled eggs and is also employed as a mouth freshener- being chewed at the end of the meal. It is also an ingredient of the spice mixture known as “Chinese Five Spice Powder”.

In Europe star anise is used to flavour fruit compotes and jams, and in the manufacture of anise-flavoured liqueurs like anisette.

In South India its use is widespread, particularly in the spice mixtures of Kerala and Chettinadu. It is used to flavour rice, curry, and sometimes garam masala.

[edit] Therapeutic Uses

Like anise, star anise is an anti-flatulent, an excellent remedy to settle bloated stomachs, and can be used in a decocotion as a diuretic. This would explain its earlier mentioned use as a Chinese moth freshener. It is apparently an excellent remedy for colic, especially infantile colic and also ameans to treat rheumatism. Steeped decoctions of star anise are the base ingredient for some medicinal teas, cough mixtures and soothing cough pastilles.

[edit] Buying and storing star anise

It is best to purchase a whole piece of star anise since the flavour of the spice is best preserved in this form. the flavour of powdered star anise is more volatile and tends to evaporate very quickly. It is preferable therefore to buy very small quantities of the powder as and when required or better still to buy the whole star and grind as much of it as required when cooking.

[edit] Bird Flu and Star Anise

Chinese legend maintains that star anise is a preventive against bad dreams and wards off the 'evil eye'. This may well come true in the modern context. Star Anise is the chief natural source of shikimic acid. Shikimic Acid is a vital ingredient of the antiviral drug "tamiflu" which is used to treat Avian flu or Bird Flu. Shikimic Acid is extracted from the seeds of star anise, and then treated to produce a crystalline ingredient named "Oseltamivir" (oseltamivir phosphate). This is the active ingredient of the anti-flu drug brand named Tamiflu.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/11/1128_051128_star_anise.html

http://www.tamiflu.com/

[edit] Ill Effects of Drinking Star Anise Teas

The FDA Advisory http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2003/NEW00941.html states that the consumption of Star Anise tea, often used as a remedy for colic in infants can cause extremely ill effects.

Amongst the reactions that this causes are jitteriness, hyperexcitability, vomiting, rapid eye movement, epi-gastric pains and seizures.

The toxicity caused by star anise teas is still being investigated and some suppose that the cause for this may be the inadvertent mixture of Japanese and regular Star Anise which are indistinguishable from one another once they are dry. The former is known to be toxic, while the latter generally consumed. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/114/5/e653

[edit] Japanese Star Anise

There is more than one type of star anise. The Chinese star anise is considered safe. A closely related species, the Japanese star anise, contains sikimitoxin and is very toxic. Once the seed pods of both plants have been dried, it is not possible to visually distinguish between the Chinese and Japanese forms.

Japanese Star Anise is dried and burned as incense in Japan.