Star Anis
Indigenous from Vietnam I wanted to track it down by traveling to a remote area in the north of the country
This aromatic and beautiful star-shaped fruit was baptized with the Latin word "illicium" which means "seduction".
The star anise tree is a perennial species native to the forests of southwestern China and northeastern Vietnam. It has probably been cultivated for about 4,000 years and spread throughout the region with the voyages of Chinese merchants that took it the north (Korea, Japan, Taiwan), the south (Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines) and to the west (India, Sri Lanka).
One of the reasons for my recent trip to Vietnam was to try to find these trees. There weren't too many other clues other hat most of the crops were in the northeast of the country, on the border with China. We took a train from Hanoi to a town called Lang Son. It was a small city, with many cafeterias and few restaurants, all dedicated to the famous "hot pot". The Chinese influence was evident, especially in the food.
As it is practically a border city, it was common to see large trucks passing by on the main road and we realized that, although small, it had a 5-star hotel. Ours was much more modest and the employees didn't speak more than Vietnamese or Mandarin. Based on showing photographs on the Internet and translating a few words, we agreed that a driver would take us to a star anise plantation.
The car passed small crops on both sides of the road as we drove away from Lang Son and headed south. We were beginning to doubt that this was the right way and we confirmed it when our driver stopped at a small roadside spice market. There were bags with star anise, with cassia cinnamon, with black cardamom… All crops from northern Vietnam and essential ingredients of the famous phở soup. But we wanted to see the trees, to understand where this highly aromatic spice came from. We insisted again and the driver seemed to understand after making several waves with his hands.
He went back down the track, coming back to Lang Son and continued on the north road towards the Chinese border. We were sharing the road with trailers that were blocking traffic, but our driver suddenly stopped at a corner and looked at us as if to say “here we are”. When we got out of the car we understood why he had stopped. At our feet sheets of the spice were spread drying in the sun. The aroma washed over us immediately. It was a mixture of anise and grass that almost made you dizzy with its intensity. A lady that emerged from a house that was just behind the spices showed us some sacks with the fruits still green. The driver explained to us with signs that the fruits are brought to him from the cultivation area so that he can dry them there.
We got back in the car much more animated and when we got out again we had stopped at another small house where a little girl received us silently, perhaps overwhelmed by those strangers who came in to see her trees. The terrain was steep, and the trees, tall and stately, were set among thickets. The driver guided us through the paths and indicated where we could find the star fruit. The aroma was slightly less intense than in the drying field, but something surprising was to discover that the leaves have the same aromatic compounds as the fruits.
The fruits are harvested just before ripening and when dried they acquire that reddish-brown color and aromas for which they are popular. The eight carpels of the fruit contain the seeds, ovoid and caramel-colored. The aromatic compounds are the same as those of fennel, but they also present anethole, the aroma of green anise and licorice, with sweet and grassy notes.
In China is where this spice is present in more dishes. When crushed into a powder it is part of the “five spice” mix but it is also cooked whole and incorporated into poultry dishes, fatty meats and soups and stews as we would do with bay leaf in the West. In Vietnam, due to Chinese influence, it is also used and is essential in the famous beef and noodle dish phở. In India it is used in biriyanis and sometimes it is added to the spice mix garam masala. It was in fact Indian merchants who brought the food from the south of the country to Malaysia and Indonesia, and with it their spices.
It seems that this spice did not reach Mediterranean ports in ancient times, but was first known in Europe when an English explorer brought it on his ship in 1588 from the Philippines. No one in England knew how to use it so they added it to wines, liqueurs and sweets like other spices, but not in hot dishes. Although for sure it goes well with sweets, it is also a very good companion for fresh fruits and vegetables such as leeks, sweet potatoes, fennel and pumpkin.
From China and Vietnam to being part of the world's spice mixtures to flavor curries, punches, cakes and vegetables