Usage of Star Anise

[StoneCut]

Something I've been wondering about is how to use star anise. I realize that if you use it to cook as whole spice then you just remove the whole spice again later.

However, there are recipes where it says to grind the star anise - do you really grind the whole star anise or just the seeds that are in them ?

[h4ppy-chris]

i grind whole star anise then siv it.

[StoneCut]

Thanks for your reply!

[Malc.]

Hi StoneCut

Its one of those questions that had me stumped for quite a while. I refused to believe that grinding Anise was a suitable option and opted to removing the seeds to crush them. But that's a really tedious task as you know. I didn't think to research up on Star Anise or anything to do with Aniseed and remained dumb in my belief that Aniseed came from Star Anise.

That all changed when I did the IG Onion Bhaji kitchen demo and found that they used a spice that added that aniseed flavour and looked like fennel albeit smaller in size. I later found that this was, actually, Aniseed which is a completely different spice to Star Anise.

Aniseed has a cleaner flavour compared to star anise and being in the same family as fennel, cumin, etc., is also very easy to grind into a powder. If you haven't tried some, I highly recommend that you do.

Hope this helps.

[JerryM]

i use star anise as whole spice or chef garam in all base. i've always used it whole (ie 1 off star) initially fishing it out before blending, then using muslin cloth, then spice ball and now the tgad2007 roasting & grinding method.

following Axe's recommendation i also purchased whole Aniseed and use it in base and bhajis. as Axe's say's it's a top notch spice and well worth trying out.

i also use fennel but more selectively as a base spice ingredient much the same as turmeric and coriander. it does not work in all base.

[StoneCut]

Thanks for the tip Axe and your endorsement JerryM. That's some good advice for my next batch. Would I use the same amounts when substituting aniseed for ground star anise?

[JerryM]

Stonecut,

i don't know for sure on the amounts as i never measure out ground anise (only using whole). the proportion i use being 15 ml filled with anise pieces/segments to 5 ml level of aniseed whole seeds (i'm actually aiming for equal weight).

the voidage in the whole form is clearly different but even with both ground i would use 1/3 rd volume of aniseed for anise as a good starting point.

[StoneCut]

Very valuable info, thanks.