Star anise is a special spice that is mostly grown in Vietnam and Southern China. With a very distinctive flavor and beautiful appearance, it brings many benefits, often used as an enhancer spice in cooking as well as an effective ingredient in medicine. So what are those benefits in specific? Let’s find out in this article!
What’s star anise?
Native to Vietnam and southern China, good-quality star anise has a distinctive appearance and looks like a little rusty star. It typically has six to eight points, each of which contains a tiny seed that is the flavor’s focal point. Farmers will harvest the green fruit before it fully ripens, drying it to make it firm. The whole thing looks like little wooden flowers.
Similar to anise and cloves, the spice offers food a sweet, licorice-like taste. It frequently appears in Chinese cooking and also has a sweet taste resembling licorice
Star anise vs Anise – They are different!
Commonly, it’s easy to mistake star anise with common anise – a kind of seed not only resembles dill, but also belongs to the same botanical family. They have the same reddish brown color and smell, however, anise and star anise in fact are very different plants, and anise is thought of containing toxicity.
Star anise: Despite sharing a name and having a flavor similar to licorice, star anise & anise are unrelated and come from separate plants. Star anise is the fruit with a star-shaped that originates from the magnolia family tree. With a taste that is stronger and much more intense than anise seed, star anise is most frequently used in Asian cuisine.
Anise: A flowering plant derived from the Apiaceae family that is associated with dill and cumin is anise (also known as aniseed). Sambuca and ouzo are alcoholic beverages that employ it. All across the Mediterranean, these seeds are used to make breads, some other types of cake and herbal teas.
Benefits of star anise
Medical Benefits
In recent times, star anise has been included in various forms of Western medicine in addition to its long history of usage in traditional Chinese treatment. Its pharmacological potential and antibacterial qualities have contributed significantly to its increase in popularity.
Ability to fight viruses
The presence of shikimic acid, a substance with potent antiviral properties in star anise, is one of the spice’s most well-known pharmacologically crucial features. In fact, Tamiflu, a well-known drug for the treatment of influenza, has it as one of its key active components
It is also said that essential oil extracted from star anise can treat influenza and some other types of virus infections such as herpes simplex
Antifungal
The flavonoid anethole, a substance that is rich in star anise, makes the distinctive aroma and has strong antifungal properties of star anise.
Some studies have discovered that trans-anethole made from star anise might help prevent the development of harmful fungus in some food crops
Antibacterial
The potential of star anise to suppress bacterial development implicated in a range of common ailments is another significant medical effect.
Star anise extract, according to the results from some recent studies, has the capacity against a variety of pathogenic bacteria resistant to antibiotics as antibiotics. This might be especially beneficial for the creation of new antibiotic-drugs in the future
Using in cooking
When using whole star anise, pods are cooked in soups, sauce, and braises. Similar to bay leaves, star anise is typically taken out of the dishes before eating and then thrown away. It matches well with citrus, chicken, and beef in savory recipes and gives food a contrastingly a sweet and licorice-like taste.
The more pungent ground star anise can be used sparingly in foods and baked products. It is a typical spice in Indian cooking and is used in both chai tea and the spice mixture garam masala
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