Discover the Magical, Medicinal, and Culinary Properties of Star Anise

Discover the history, folklore, and uses of star anise.

Star Anise at a Glance

Common Name: Star anise

Botanical Name: Illicium verum is the Latin name for star anise

Plant Family: Schisandaceae

Alternative Folk Names:

• Chinese star anise
• Chinese anise
• Ba jiao hui
• Badian
• Eight horns
• Eight-horned anise
• Aniseed stars

Star Anise Facts and Information

The Latin name for the star anise plant is Illicium verum. Star anise, which is sometimes called Chinese anise, is a member of the magnolia family.

Physical Description: Star anise is a medium-sized evergreen tree with lance-shaped leaves and olive green fruits that turn a rusty brown color as they dry in the sun. The fruit of the Chinese anise plant looks like a six to eight-pronged pointed star, hence the name star anise. The prongs are usually split open and contain a single seed. The dried seed pod and seeds are aromatic and have a pungent, strong, yet mildly sweet taste.

Habitation and Cultivation: Mature star anise trees can grow up to 26 feet tall. Evergreen star anise trees are native to Southern China and Vietnam, are high in vitamins C and A and have been used as a culinary and medicinal ingredient for over 3,000 years. 

Star Anise Medicinal Uses

Star anise is a spice used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Star anise has antimicrobial, antioxidant, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, and preservative properties and is used for different medicinal purposes. 

The seeds and essential oil exhibit antidiabetic, hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, oestrogenic, and other functional medicinal characteristics. Star anise is generally considered safe for use as a superfood supplement in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Star anise is made into a tea, or infusion, and used to help alleviate cramps, reduce nausea, and improve digestion. It is also used to treat influenza, coughs, and other respiratory issues. 

Star Anise Magical Uses

In herbal folklore, star anise was used to ward off evil and improve your luck. In fact, finding a star anise seed pod with more than 8 points is considered extremely lucky. Star anise is associated with different magical and metaphysical properties including:

• healing
• protection
• psychic awareness
• good luck

And, due to its hot and spicy nature, star anise is sometimes used to help draw love and increase passion. Place a few star anise seed pods in your dish of pot potpourri to sweeten up your home, or add it to your charms, spells, medicine bags, and mojo bags for added luck and protection. 

Star anise is a popular spice used in many sweet and savory recipes.

Star Anise Culinary Uses

Star anise has a spicy, slightly licorice-like taste, similar to fennel and anise seeds. The culinary uses for star anise include using in a variety of sweet dishes such as fruits, jams, puddings, cookies, and pies. You can also use star anise in savory dishes with vegetables, meat, fish, soups, and stews. This spice is either used whole and removed prior to serving the dish, or finely ground and added along with any other herbs and spices called for in a recipe. 

Top star anise culinary suggestions:

• Add a bit of ground star anise to ground coffee before brewing in a coffee pot.
• Spice chai tea blend is a recipe for a sweet and spicy hot beverage. Chai tea features a mixture of black tea blended with star anise, cinnamon, cardamom, and other spices.
• Stir is a bit of finely ground star anise into a container of vanilla-flavored yogurt.
• Star anise can be used in pastry and dessert recipes as a substitute for cinnamon, nutmeg, or cloves.

Purchase star anise either finely ground or in its whole form, online or from your local grocery store. If you are buying whole star anise seed pods, which measure up to 1 1/4-inches across, you can either use a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle depending on how fine a powder you want. The seed pods are extremely hard so I usually go with the electric coffee grinder method. Just make sure to wipe out your grinder with a damp paper towel before you grind up your next batch of whole coffee beans unless you want nice and spicey coffee.

Star Anise Spice Blend Recipes

Star anise pairs wells with nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and other spice blends.

Chinese Five Spice Blend

Star anise is one of the 5 spices used in Chinese five-spice blend, a seasoning used as a dry rub to flavor beef, duck, and pork. You can also add it to soy sauce or teriyaki sauce, and use it as a marinade for rice dishes and stir fries.

Ingredients for Chinese Five Spice Blend

• 2 to 3 teaspoons white peppercorns
• 1 whole cinnamon stick
• 6 to 8 whole cloves
• 1 to 2 tablespoons fennel seeds
• 4 to 6 whole star anise pods

Toast the whole spices in a dry skillet placed over low to medium-low heat for about 2 to 3 minutes or until they begin to turn fragrant. Add all the ingredients to a coffee grinder and process into a fine powder. While I prefer to used whole spices in this recipe, you can substitute pre-ground spices to create the Chinese Five Spice Blend.

Store Chinese Five Spice blend in an airtight container until ready to use. There is no one official recipe for Chinese Five Spice, so you can play around with the exact quantities of each ingredient until you get the perfect mixture for your unique and specific taste. Certain recipes even swap out the white pepper for another firey spice such as Sichuan peppercorns or ground ginger. 

Hot Toddy Mulling Spice Blend

Mulling spice blend is a favorite ingredient during the holiday season used for making hot toddies and mulled wine. You can also use this spice blend to flavor hot apple cider or apple juice for a non-alcoholic hot toddy.

Ingredients for Hot Toddy Spice Blend

• 1 whole star anise seed pod
• 6 whole cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick

Place all the ingredients into a double layer of cheesecloth. Tie the ends of the cheesecloth with a piece of twine. Place the bundle of spices into a saucepan filled with your hot toddy beverage of choice. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, and let simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Remove and discard the spice bundle prior to serving. An alternative to using the cheesecloth is to place all the ingredients into a tea strainer ball.

For more great new age, magic, and folklore information check out my companion blog, The Creative Cottage.

Peace, Love, and Light
The White Witch, AKA Lynn Smythe
Founder of Craft of the Wise, the Essential Survivalist, and the Creative Cottage

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