FauxPseudo Ingredient quest question.
nadramAnise is popular with tea. Just make yourself a cup of tea, then drop 3 stars in it. You can also add cinnamon and/or honey if you like it sweet.
howrarDang, three whole stars in a cup. That’s some strong-ass tea. When I make broth, I usually go for half a star for the whole pot.
Your hyphenation is clutch
rhythmisaprancerYou could bake some bread with them. Rice. Bread pudding. The tea is a good idea. So many sweet and savory options! But this is a flavor I enjoy.
Recipes I use Anise in: Pho, Tho Kha, any kind of sugar cookie, Chili (not always, but good with certain chilies), Tea (especially cinnamon teas, Glogg (Mulled wine - HUGE hit in the winter), spiced apples or pears, pickled or fermented punch or ginger bug sodas, Ice Cream (fantastic addition to spiced flavors like Cinnamon or Ginger).
In general, of you see a need to use Cinnamon or Ginger in something, chances are Anise can be dropped in to compliment it.
I’m currently growing a bit of ginger. I’m going to have to harvest all of it before late fall. I could definitely make a lot of ginger anise ale and can it for long term use.
talI figured I might try to make some kind of beverage and maybe some soft candy.
This is neither a beverage nor a soft candy, but my favorite anise-containing food is a German cookie, springerle.
That sounds amazing. Now I need to find molds and a place for them to dry that is safe from cat hair.
RebekahWSDThere is no place safe from cat hair. The cats know. The cats find!
I’m thinking about making a clean room out of a retired refrigerator. Drop a humidifier, dehumidifier and a Johnson unit on it and use it for making cheese, curing meats and, now making cookies.
You could try Chinese takeaway style roast pork in BBQ sauce
Ziangs: How to Cook REAL Chinese Roast Pork and Chinese Takeaway BBQ sauce
That looks so good.
lusterko0mulled wine?
jordanlundHoly crap! I did not know star anise came in pints! How much did that set you back?
My usual source is $8.29 an ounce, I can’t imagine a pint!
www.penzeys.com/online-catalog/…/pd-s
4 oz bag for $16.79, so I guess a pint would be around $67.16?
Good news, if they go stale, they’re still valuable in crafting.
I did not know star anise came in pints!
I don’t usually use star anise — rather, I use fennel, which is technically not anise, but a closely-related plant. All three have the chemical that produces that flavor, though.
You can definitely get fennel in bulk.
checks Amazon
1 lb bag of star anise:
$0.87 / ounce
5 lb container of anise:
$0.52 / ounce
5 lb container of fennel:
$0.37 / ounce
I also don’t really need to go buying fennel; in California, the larger problem is trying to get rid of fennel, where it’s quite invasive and is everywhere.
I got it at the Super G Mart. It came in a Chinese printed plastic bag and I moved it to a pint for long term storage. Cost was $5. They had lots of other brands and size packages available but this was the least expensive.
Find your local international markets and spend a whole lot less on spices.
LemmyThinkAboutThatYou can make your own Chinese Five Spice, I highly recommend it! You probably have all the ingredients already. Store in a glass and a cool, dry and dark place and it will last long.
Those peas are my grandparents’ favorite brand of peas. They’re not mushy but I add them last so they’re not crushed by utensils. I’ve used them in fried rice before and my family makes Chicken Guisantes with those peas. It must be that brand or else…
EDIT: Wait, what?!? 99¢!?! You’re so lucky! I have to make a special trip to some Asian supermarket or H-Mart to get those and they’re not 99¢, lol! Enjoy!
These came from the Super G Mart. A close relative of H-Mart. I saw them and knew that for 99¢ I wasn’t going to be disappointed.
I was thinking about adding them to fried rice. Thanks for the heads up about when to add them.
Whole star anise keeps for a while. I’ve had the same batch for about five years now and it’s still incredibly potent. So certainly, continue with learning how to use it, but don’t stress about going through all of it in a short period of time.
I know it lasts longer than most things but I like to try to use whole slices within two years. And given how little is needed for any recipe it seems unlikely I’ll use it up.
I just made a giant jar of chili crunch mostly adhering to this recipe. I made mine mild and used a whole four star anise pods. (btw chili crunch is pretty much the best condiment you’ll ever have in your life)
I love this stuff. We make huge batches to keep all year. Haven’t used the serious eats recipe
I ground up dried lobster and porcini mushrooms into powder and used mostly pasilla, guajillo, and a few chipotle dried peppers. Imo it’s way better than store bought. Would love to know your recipe!
We use this one from The Woks of Life. Which does have any lobster or mushrooms. Our last batch used a hotter chili pepper and was almost too spicy. That’s kind of how it goes when you can’t read the labels on the dried peppers. Need to take better notes of branda
*lobster mushrooms, please don’t think i.put actual lobster in there, I’m not made of money 😂
I’m lucky to live near a specialty market that sells a variety of dried mushrooms and peppers in bulk so you only have to buy what you need. Thanks for the recipe share!!
I’m on a search for dried mushrooms at the two Asian grocery stores by my house. I’ve never had them but love mushrooms. Good idea to just have them ready
I put the dried mushrooms in a coffee grinder to turn them into powder for this. Other times, you can let them sit in warm water for a couple minutes and throw them in soups, or really any dish you want mushrooms in (which is all of them)
I need to get another coffee grinder for spices, herbs and now mushrooms. I love mushrooms in dishes so soaking and throwing them and their liquid in dishes is the plan.
Chili crisp is an amazing ingredient. I use it for fried Asian food dips and sometimes as a finishing sauce when I’m sauteing vegetables or on something like roasted brussel sprouts.
But I haven’t made it myself yet.
You could mull some apple cider in the crock pot with cloves, star anise, cinnamon sticks, ginger, nutmeg, and a sliced orange. Great on its own or add some rum!
Mulled wine is perfect for using star anise! I make mine with 1 bottle red wine, 1/4 cup brandy, 3 star anise pods, 2 cinnamon sticks, 5 cloves, and orange slices - just simmer on low for 20 mins (don’t boil or you’ll lose the alcohol lol). You can check out gearscouts.com/power-stations if you want to make this while camping - some portable power stations can run a small slow cooker.
Star Anise keeps a while so you can keep them as long as you keep them whole.
I made my own star anise tincture with the extras I have. Just fill a jar and top with an alcohol (I use grain alcohol) and let sit for 4-6 weeks and decant the liquor. It’s delicious to add to cocktails
The ramen eggs I make use a few star anise for the marinade!
Grind up one or two and add it to any bird brine for a nice warming flavor that balances with any bright notes
I think ivneed new glasses because I swear that looked like a jar of spiders for a good 10 seconds before I realized it was Anise
I’d know what to do with a jar of spiders. That’s easy. Spider scampi.
You are not alone lol
th3dogcowThis Chicken recipes uses some anise. Not much but might help out. It is delish.
One-Pot Sticky Chicken Wings - Andrew Zimmern
Addictive Flavors of Malaysia By Andrew Zimmern A few years ago, I went to Malaysia for the first time and spent every second I could on New Lane in Penang. It’s arguably the single greatest street-food stroll in the world. Among the hundreds of stalls are a few that turn out chicken wings and chicken… Read More →
MinnesotaGoddami mean i use a teensy amount of aniseed in my red pasta sauce. i suppose you could sub star anise, but i’ve never tried it.
i have a root beer/birch beer/sarsaparilla recipe i’ve been fighting for years that i used star anise in, but i think i might sub in fennel or aniseed because it always ends up too licoricey no matter how little i put in. here’s the latest incarnation, but note it is not good
1 tablespoon sarsaparilla root bark
1 tablespoon sassafras root bark
1 tablespoon birch bark
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1/2 teaspoon crushed ginger
4? sprigs chocolate mint
3? star anise pods
1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup molasses
Combine everything but sugar and molasses. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook 10 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and steep for 2 hours Strain liquid through fine mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth into a large pot. Add sugar and molasses, low heat and stir until mixture is integrated. Put in syrup jar, refrigerate, add to carbonated water to make soda.
I’d leave out the star anise and mint entirely to begin with and slowly add them in at different quantities, because it’s really easy to get mint or licorice soda. I still haven’t figured this recipe out. nutmeg might be a good addition too.
Thank you for posting the failed recipe.
That looks very expensive. What is the batch size?
Last time I tried this was like 7 years ago so I honestly don’t remember. I was trying to get into making homemade sodas
You can heat up milk with star anise to make fresh warm anise milk!
You can add one star anis, a couple of cardamon pods and coarsely ground black pepper to the water when cooking basmati rice
Any kind of savory soup, just toss one or two in. Took me a few years, but managed to use up my star anise that way.
I looked at that photo for a long time, and didn’t realize that wasn’t a jar full of insects until I started reading the post lol
Same…almost didn’t open the post at all b/c I didn’t want to know what kind of hellish nightmare was going to be using a jar of bugs.
rustydrdStar anise, cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves are also great additions for rice, both as a side dish or as part of other dishes (e.g., biryani).