Sun Dried Star Anise

For over 3,000 years, this stellar—get it?—spice with a pleasingly medicinal, sweet-licorice flavor has been cultivated in Bac Ninh Province, east of Hanoi in North Vietnam, only making its way along the tea route in Europe during the 1500s. Star anise grows on evergreen trees that flourish in the region’s climate of steamy monsoons and cold winters. During the bi-annual harvests, locals climb the trees to retrieve the green fruit (spring yields smaller star anise without seeds while fall’s seed-bearing fruit is larger and more fragrant), which is then sun-dried for one hour a day—usually mid-morning—for five days, just long enough to burst the seam of each “petal,” exposing a flavor-concentrated seed.

Star anise is very versatile and can be used numerous ways. You can lightly toast this spice for more nutty flavors and crush them to release the flavor from the seed pods. The compounds also disperse well in oil and alcohol based liquids. Additionally you can use them whole in water based applications but they need to be slow cooked to release the flavor. Note that the longer you cook this spice the stronger the flavor will be.