According to traditional Chinese medicine, star anise which is considered pungent, sweet and warm disperses cold, warm the liver and kidneys, relieves pain regulate the qi and improves appetite.
Star anise is a subtropical evergreen shrub or small tree growing as tall as 18 m. The tree produce white to yellow flowers that mature to deep rose, pink or purple and develop into anise-scented, star shaped fruits.
The leaves are lanceolate and the axillary flowers are yellow, the female portion of the flower consisting of seven to 15 carpels.
It is a shrub indigenous to China and Japan; its fruit is used to flavor sweetmeats, confectionary and liquors. The fruits are star-shaped, reddish-brown, consisting of 6-8 carpels, arranged in a whorl.
Star anise is used occasionally in Persian and Mughal Indian biryani rice dishes and in succulent meat curries.
While star anise is unrelated botanically to anise, it has the same compound, anethole, that lends to its distinctive flavor. Anise can be substituted if the cook doesn’t have star anise.
Star anise (Illicium verum)
