Star Anise (Badiyan): Buying the Safe Kind and Using One Star Well

Star anise is the prettiest thing in the spice drawer and the one with the most important label-reading rule attached. There is a lookalike that is genuinely poisonous.

The warning that has to come first

Chinese star anise, Illicium verum, is the culinary spice. It is safe, it is everywhere, it is in your five-spice and your pho.

Japanese star anise, Illicium anisatum, is a different species that looks very similar and is toxic. It contains neurotoxic compounds and has caused seizures, vomiting and serious neurological reactions, particularly in infants. It is not a food. In some countries it is used as incense, and it is not sold for eating anywhere with functioning food rules.

The problem is adulteration. Batches of star anise sold loose, especially broken pieces, have been found contaminated with the Japanese species. There have been real cases of infants becoming seriously ill after being given star anise tea for colic, a widespread traditional practice in several countries, and contamination was the suspected cause in a number of them. Regulators in the United States and Europe have issued warnings about exactly this.

So the rule is short. Buy whole intact stars, from a proper food supplier, labelled as Chinese star anise or Illicium verum, and do not give star anise preparations to babies at all. Nobody should be brewing star anise tea for an infant, and nobody should be buying spice that arrived in an unmarked bag from an unknown chain.

What star anise actually is

Star anise is the dried fruit of Illicium verum, a small evergreen tree native to southern China and northern Vietnam. It is not related to aniseed, which is a small umbellifer seed from the Mediterranean, and it is not related to fennel or liquorice either. All of them happen to contain anethole, the compound responsible for that sweet liquorice smell, which is why they taste like relatives while being complete strangers botanically.

The fruit is a cluster of carpels, usually eight, sometimes six or nine, arranged in a star. Each carpel is a small boat-shaped pod containing one shiny amber seed. The pod itself carries most of the aroma. The seed is comparatively bland, which surprises people.

In South Asia it is badiyan or chakra phool. In Chinese cooking it is ba jiao, eight horns, and it is the dominant note in five-spice powder. In Vietnam it is the backbone of pho. It travelled well because it dries hard, keeps for ages and does not crumble.

Telling the two species apart

Honestly, you should not be relying on visual identification. That is what the label and a reputable supplier are for. But the differences are worth knowing.

Chinese star anise has plump, fat carpels with a rounded, blunt tip, usually a rich reddish-brown, and a strong sweet liquorice smell. Japanese star anise tends to have smaller, more shrivelled carpels with a sharper, more hooked or beaked tip, a paler and more brittle look, and a weak smell that is often described as more like cardamom or cloves than liquorice, sometimes faintly turpentine-like.

The practical trouble is that a dried, broken, mixed batch is hard to judge and the two can be very close. This is precisely why broken pieces and loose unlabelled bulk are the risky purchase. Whole stars, intact, in a labelled packet, from a food business that has to answer for what is in the bag.

How to buy it and store it

Buying

Look for whole stars, mostly unbroken, with at least six of the eight points intact. Deep rust-brown, matte rather than shiny, faintly oily. They should smell of sweet liquorice through the packet. Pale grey, dusty, odourless stars are old or were badly dried.

Avoid the cheap bags of broken fragments. They are a false economy twice over, once because fragments have already lost most of their aroma, and once because fragments are exactly the form in which the wrong species can hide.

Ground star anise is not worth buying. It fades fast, and it is completely opaque to any inspection. Grind your own in a spice grinder or a sturdy mortar if a recipe asks for powder.

Storing

Whole stars in an airtight jar, dark cupboard, away from heat, keep useful aroma for two to three years. They are among the more robust whole spices because that woody carpel protects the oil. Ground star anise is good for about six to eight weeks and then it is brown dust.

Keep it away from anything you do not want smelling of liquorice, because it will migrate. A star anise jar left open near your tea will produce liquorice tea.

Cooking with it, with real measurements

Star anise is powerful and it does not fade politely. Two stars where one was needed will take over a dish completely and there is no rescuing it. Start low.

A star anise braise for four

1. Heat 30ml (2 tablespoons) of oil in a heavy pot over medium heat until shimmering, roughly 160C.
2. Add 1 whole star anise (about 1.2g), 1 small cinnamon or cassia piece about 5cm, and 3 slices of fresh ginger. Fry 30 seconds. The star will darken slightly and the liquorice smell will bloom. Do not let it blacken, since scorched star anise turns harsh and medicinal within seconds.
3. Add 500g of meat, browned in batches, then 2 tablespoons (30ml) light soy sauce, 1 tablespoon (15ml) dark soy, 1 teaspoon sugar and 400ml water or stock.
4. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook gently for 60 to 90 minutes.
5. Remove the star anise at the 45 minute mark if you want a gentle background note, or leave it in the whole time for a forward liquorice character. Either way take it out before serving.
6. Count it in, count it out. A whole star anise on a plate is unpleasant to bite and the points are sharp.

A spiced fruit or tea infusion

This is the safest and prettiest use, and it needs care with quantity.

1. Bring 500ml of water to about 90C, just off the boil.
2. Add 1 whole star anise (1.2g), 1 cinnamon stick, 2 cloves and 3 thin strips of orange peel.
3. Cover and steep 8 to 10 minutes. Longer than about 12 minutes and it turns bitter and heavy.
4. Strain out all the whole spices completely. Nothing solid should reach the cup.
5. Sweeten to taste, roughly 1 teaspoon of honey per 250ml cup, added once it has cooled a little.
6. One cup is a portion. This is an occasional warm drink for adults, a few times a week at most, and not something to give to infants or very young children.

A home five-spice blend

By weight, for about 40g of blend. Toast nothing longer than 60 seconds in a dry pan over medium-low heat.

1. Weigh out 10g star anise (about 8 whole stars), 10g fennel seed, 8g cassia or cinnamon, 6g cloves and 6g Sichuan peppercorns.
2. Toast each spice separately, 45 to 60 seconds, until fragrant. They toast at different rates, which is why you do them one at a time.
3. Cool completely, about 10 minutes. Grinding warm spices makes a paste.
4. Grind together to a fine powder. Sift out any woody fragments.
5. Store airtight in a dark jar. Use within three months. Typical use is half a teaspoon (about 1.5g) for a dish serving four.

How much, and how often

One whole star for a dish serving four to six. Two stars for a large pot of pho or a big braise for eight to ten. Half a star, snapped off, for anything delicate like a fish dish or a light syrup. A whole star weighs about 1g to 1.5g.

In a ground blend, star anise typically sits at twenty to twenty-five per cent of five-spice, which sounds like a lot until you remember that half a teaspoon of five-spice is a full serving of seasoning for four people.

For infusions, one star per 500ml of water, steeped no more than ten minutes, is the working ceiling. Doubling it does not give you twice the flavour, it gives you bitterness and a medicinal edge.

Frequency is simply how often you cook this way. Chinese, Vietnamese and South Asian home cooking uses it several times a week in food amounts, which is ordinary eating. There is no tradition of taking it concentrated, and the very strong essential oil should never be swallowed.

Myth versus what is fair to say

What it pairs with

Star anise loves pork, beef, duck, soy sauce, ginger, orange, cinnamon and sugar. It is at home anywhere there is caramelisation and long slow cooking. In South Asian kitchens it turns up in biryani masala and in some kormas, usually as a single star among a handful of other whole spices, playing a supporting role rather than leading.

It does not get on well with fresh delicate herbs, with dairy-heavy sweets, or with anything sharp and lemony. It also overwhelms most vegetables, with the honourable exceptions of carrot, beetroot and winter squash, all of which have enough sweetness to meet it.

Like black cardamom it goes into the fat early and comes out before serving, and it shares that count-them-in-count-them-out discipline with tej patta. You can find the rest of this series on the Desi Remedies hub.

This is food and household tradition writing, not medical advice. Nothing here is intended to diagnose, treat or prevent any condition. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking medication or managing a health condition, talk to your own doctor before changing what you eat or taking any supplement. Do not give star anise preparations to infants.