Star anise: how to use it, and what it is called in Polish

Star anise is the dried, eight-pointed fruit of the Illicium verum tree. In Hindi it is chakra phool, and in Polish anyż gwiazdkowaty, anyż gwiazdkowy or badian. Indian packs often call it star aniseeds. It has a sweet, liquorice-like taste and smell and is a regular in Indian, Chinese and Vietnamese cooking, and in Poland in mulled wine and gingerbread spice.

Star anise in Polish shops

Polish cooks use star anise mostly around Christmas, so you may also find small bags of it in the spice section of a Polish supermarket. The names on Polish labels are:

• anyż gwiazdkowaty or anyż gwiazdkowy: star anise;
• badian: the older Polish name for the same spice;
• anyż: on its own, this usually means ordinary aniseed, a different plant;
• przyprawa do piernika: gingerbread spice, a mix that may contain star anise.

For cooking in quantity, an Indian shop sells larger packs labelled star aniseeds.

Where it comes from and how it tastes

The tree grows in southern China and Vietnam. The fruit is picked unripe and dried in the sun until it turns brown. Each point of the star holds one shiny seed.

The taste is close to aniseed and liquorice, because they share the same main aroma compound, anethole. Star anise is stronger, woodier and slightly bitter. One star is enough for a pot of soup for several people.

Star anise and ordinary aniseed

They are two different plants. Aniseed (Pimpinella anisum) is the small, oval seed of a plant from the celery family, similar to caraway. Star anise is the fruit of a tree. You can swap them in a recipe: one star gives about as much aroma as half a teaspoon of aniseed. Star anise copes better with long cooking, while aniseed releases its flavour faster in baking.

How to use star anise

In Indian cooking. Drop a star into hot oil or ghee with other whole spices: cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and bay leaf. That is how many biryanis, pulaos and meat curries start. Star anise also goes into some garam masala and masala chai blends.

In Chinese and Vietnamese cooking. It is one of the five ingredients of five-spice powder. In Vietnam it gives pho broth its character. In China it goes into pork braised in soy sauce.

In Polish cooking. In grzaniec (mulled wine or mulled beer), in kompot z suszu (dried fruit compote), in pickled plums and pears, in powidła (plum butter), in gingerbread spice and in punch syrups.

How much:

• a pot of soup or curry for 4: 1 or 2 stars;
• a litre of mulled wine: 2 or 3 stars;
• ground star anise: a quarter of a teaspoon per dish at most, because it easily takes over.

Take whole stars out before serving. They are hard and not for eating. If you need ground star anise, grind a few stars in a coffee grinder just before use.

Safety: buy star anise as a food spice

There is a similar fruit, Japanese star anise (Illicium anisatum), which is poisonous and not fit to eat. It looks almost the same. So buy star anise only as a food spice from a food shop, and do not use stars from decorations or ornamental dried arrangements. Do not give star anise tea to babies or small children.

How to store star anise

Keep whole stars in an airtight jar in a dry, dark place. They keep their aroma for a long time, usually more than a year. A good star is whole, rusty brown and smells strongly when you break it. Ground star anise loses its smell faster, within a few months.

Where to buy star anise in Poland

A large pack is star aniseeds TRS 500 g, and a smaller one is star aniseeds TRS 50 g. Ordinary aniseed is for example whole anise La Latina, and other whole spices are in the whole spices category. Little India has shops in Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław and Gdańsk and ships orders online. Our Indian spices starter kit lists the basics to buy first.