With this purchase, you receive 1 oz Star Anise
These are not all whole, there are a lot of pieces.

With its easily recognizable star shape and pungent flavor, whole star anise plays a key role in the slow cooked dishes that characterize eastern Chinese cuisine. Like anise seeds, star anise gets its distinctive licorice taste from a chemical compound called anethole. However, the two are not related botanically, as star anise is a member of the Magnolia family.

Whole star anise is great for use in meat and egg dishes, and can also be simmered in black tea. It's one of the spices in five-spice powder, and is featured in several signature Vietnamese dishes, such as Pho Bo soup. It is also the secret ingredient in many Indian stews and curries.


Info from wikipedia:
Star anise contains anethole, the same ingredient that gives the unrelated anise its flavor. Recently, star anise has come into use in the West as a less expensive substitute for anise in baking as well as in liquor production, most distinctively in the production of the liquor Galliano.[citation needed] It is also used in the production of sambuca, pastis, and many types of absinthe. Star anise enhances the flavour of meat. It is used as a spice in preparation of biryani and masala chai all over the Indian subcontinent. It is widely used in Chinese cuisine, and in Indian cuisine where it is a major component of garam masala, and in Malay and Indonesian cuisines. 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 a major ingredient in the making of phở, a Vietnamese noodle soup.

Medicinal uses
Star anise has been used in a tea as a traditional remedy for rheumatism, and the seeds are sometimes chewed after meals to aid digestion. In traditional Chinese medicine, star anise is considered a warm and moving herb, and used to assist in relieving cold-stagnation in the middle jiao.


Star anise is grown in four provinces in China and harvested between March and May. It is also found in the south of New South Wales. The shikimic acid is extracted from the seeds in a 10-stage manufacturing process which takes a year.