Star anise comes by its name honestly, with its star shape and a licorice taste similar to regular anise, only stronger. It is about one inch high with eight segments and a dark brown rust color. Like regular anise, star anise gets its distinctive licorice taste from a chemical compound called anethol. Star anise is the unusual fruit of a small oriental tree. It is, as the name suggests, star shaped, radiating between five and ten pointed boat-shaped sections, about eight on average. Tough skinned and rust coloured, they measure up to 3cm long. The fruit is picked before it can ripen, and dried. Star anise plays a key role in the slow cooked dishes that characterize Eastern Chinese cuisine. Its licorice flavor enhances red cooked dishes, as well as eggs simmered in black tea.
In traditional Chinese medicine, star anise is prescribed as a digestive aid and to help cure colic in babies. The Shikimic Acid, extracted from star anise, is one of the chief ingredients in the antiviral Tamiflu drug used to fight avian influenza.
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