Star Anise

The most beautiful spice in your cupboard.

Star anise looks like something a child would draw if you asked them to invent a spice. Eight-pointed, dark-brown, almost too perfect to break — and then you do, and the whole room smells like licorice and pine and somewhere far away.

Ours comes from Guangxi in southern China, where the trees grow wet and warm and take years before they give anything back. This is the spice that turns a pot of plain water into pho broth. The one that makes Chinese five-spice taste like Chinese five-spice. The one that quietly elevates a poached pear into something you'd serve to someone you love. Use it whole — one or two pods is plenty — and fish it out before serving.

70 grams is roughly 40 to 50 stars, which sounds like a little but is actually a lot. Star anise gives more than it takes. A jar of it on the shelf is the difference between a kitchen that cooks and a kitchen that's curious.

Pairing notes 🍲 Pho, Chinese braises, red-cooked pork · 🍐 Poached pears, baked apples, plum compote · 🍵 Spiced tea, chai blends, masala chai · 🍹 Cocktails — gin, rum, mezcal infusions · 🦆 Duck, lamb, anything roasted slowly