Star anise, Sichuan pepper, and aromatic fruit: this is what these commonly eaten spices look like growing on the tree

Introduction

Spices are indispensable flavor enhancers in our cooking, but do you know how they grow? Come take a look with me, it will definitely surprise you!

Star anise

Star anise is a famous seasoning spice with a sweet fragrance. The star anise fruit can be used directly in everyday seasoning, such as in stewing, boiling, pickling, braising, and soaking, and can also be directly processed into five-spice seasoning powder.

White cardamom

Used as a seasoning, it can remove off-flavors and add fragrance and pungency. It is used to prepare various braising broths and for making braised pork and roast chicken. It is also one of the ingredients of "curry powder." It has the effects of regulating qi, aiding digestion, and stopping vomiting.

Send "white cardamom" in the Yanghua Zhijia official account to learn more about growing and caring for white cardamom.

Tsao-ko

Tsao-ko has a special, rich, pungent aroma, can remove fishiness, and stimulates the appetite. It is an excellent cooking seasoning and is praised by people as one of the "five spices" in food seasoning. When tsao-ko is used to cook dishes, it can remove fishiness and gamey odor and enhance the taste of the dish. When cooking fish and meat, the flavor is even better with tsao-ko. When stewing beef and mutton, add a little tsao-ko; it not only makes the mutton fresh and delicious but also drives away the gamey smell of mutton. It is used to enhance the aroma of refined braising broth and cooked meats and dishes, such as tsao-ko braised beef; tsao-ko is also used to enhance the aroma in the Yunnan specialty sealed chicken.

Sichuan pepper

Sichuan pepper is an indispensable spice in hot pot. The peel of Sichuan pepper is a raw material for essences and spices, the seeds are an excellent woody oil material, the oil cake can be used as fertilizer or feed, and the leaves can be used instead of the fruit as a seasoning, for eating, or to make pepper tea; at the same time, Sichuan pepper is also an important tree species for soil and water conservation in arid and semi-arid mountainous areas.

White pepper

Pepper has a fragrant smell and is one of people's favorite seasonings. Most pepper grows in high-temperature and long-term humid areas. Its nature and flavor are pungent and hot, so its effect of warming the middle, dispelling cold, and relieving pain is relatively strong. The farther south the growing location of the pepper, the warmer and hotter its nature, because it has fully absorbed the yang and heat qi of the south.

Bay leaf

Bay leaf is the leaf of the laurel tree. It is mostly used to season sauce-type dishes or soups, and it is also often used in claypot rice dishes. Dried leaves can also be used as a flavoring agent for canned food. It is one of the commonly used aromatic seasonings in Western cuisine. It is suitable to add a little when cooking meat, or when preparing meat dipping sauce, but because its flavor is very strong, you cannot add too much, otherwise it will cover up the original taste of the food.