Star Anise
Certain Thai curry pastes and soups that use star anise, and some blends of Thai ice tea use this as a flavorant. This is a classic Chinese spice that, in Thai dishes, is added primarily to soups. For the soup, add the whole seed pod instead of grinding it uup.
The anise should not be eaten whole, but it looks pretty in the dish and imparts are wonderful aroma.
Star Anise is also used very effectively in making aromatic pot pourri, and many international dishes call for it.
Product of China. ImportFood.com's star anise is recommended by Mark Bittman (New York Times). Anise is one of the key ingredients in Chinese 5 Spice. We also offer star anise powder.
Pork Leg on Rice, 'Khao Kha Moo'
Khao Kha Moo is not only a favorite of Thailand's Prime Minister (a celebrity chef), it's also one of those ubiquitous dishes served by street vendors throughout Thailand. If you think it's hard to make at home--it's not! The recipe below makes a wonderful khao kha moo but be sure you get the right piece of meat. Ask a butcher for a pork shank, fresh. You must get it "fresh" which means it has not been cured or smoked. Even if it's frozen that's fine just state "fresh" to denote that you don't want it already smoked or cured. Hock (cut from the shoulder) is also a cut that works fine. Try to get a front leg, as the back legs contain more fat and less meat.
Chicken and Noodles in Spiced Broth
The February 2010 issue of Food & Wine (an excellent magazine!) featured this as a "Healing Recipe To Fight Pain and Panic" It uses so many of the ingredients we offer, so we demonstrate it for you here. We did modify it a bit--the original recipe calls for only salt and pepper to taste, we changed that to a combination of fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar as listed below. The soup tastes spicy, rich, fills your stomach and clears your mind. A real winner.
Sriracha and Wasabi Deviled Eggs
The November 2010 issue of Food & Wine features this recipe in their article "East by Northeast Thanksgiving" by Joanne Chang. This recipe was part of our 2010 Thanksgiving Recipe Update.