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Star anise, star aniseed, badiane or Chinese star anise, is a spice that closely resembles anise in flavor, obtained from the star-shaped pericarp of Illicium verum, a small native evergreen tree of southwest China. The star shaped fruits are harvested just before ripening. It is widely used in Chinese cuisine, in Indian cuisine where it is a major component of garam masala, and in Malay/Indonesian cuisine. It is widely grown for commercial use in China, India, and most other countries in Asia. Star anise is an ingredient of the traditional five-spice powder of Chinese cooking. It is also one of the ingredients used to make the broth for the Vietnamese noodle soup called ph?. It is used as a spice in preparation of Biryani in Andhra Pradesh, a south Indian State.
Japanese star anise (Illicium anisatum), a similar tree, is not edible because it is highly toxic; instead, it has been burned as incense in Japan. Cases of illness, including “serious neurological effects, such as seizures”, reported after using star anise tea may be a result of using this species. Japanese star anise contains anisatin, which causes severe inflammation of the kidneys, urinary tract and digestive organs. Source: Wikipedia |
I’ll try to stay away from the Japanese one in that case! Sounds rather scary and I wonder how one would tell the difference if faced with both species?
Actually, you can’t tell the difference by looking at them. Here’s a link to more information – http://www.webmd.com/content/Article/73/88929.htm
Eek! So glad I don’t drink star anise tea and won’t be starting anytime soon. Though I get through a lot of chamomile tea and good old Assam too!
I’ve been looking at our locally made cold pressed Canola oil and it seems to have a smoke point very similar to peanut oil so I shall keep using it, if only to support local industry.