STAR OF ANISE RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. Place the duck legs in a sandwich bag with the soy sauce, five-spice, star anise, cinnamon stick and olive oil and let them marinate for a minimum of 2 hours. To really get the flavours going, you could keep this in your fridge to marinate for up to 2 days. Then get yourself a pan, casserole or high-sided roasting tray that snugly fits the duck legs. Place the chillies, plums and sugar in the bottom of the tray and then pour the marinade from the bag over the top. Mix it all up using your fingers, and place the duck legs on top.
  2. Place the tray in a preheated oven at 170°C/325°F/gas 3 for 2 to 2½ hours until the meat falls away from the bone. Remove the star anise and cinnamon stick, then taste the sauce to see if it needs to be seasoned with a little more soy sauce. It’s now down to you how you would like to serve it. You could have it as a starter with some of the little Chinese pancakes that you can buy, or served simply with rice or noodles and the chunky, jammy plum sauce that the duck has cooked in.

Steps:

• Put the gammon in a large pan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil, then immediately remove from the heat. Pour away the water and any scum.
• Add the cider and orange to the pan, followed by enough water to cover the ham, then add the peppercorns, onion, bay, celery, carrots and parsley. Bring slowly to the boil, then lower to a gentle simmer, cover and cook gently for 1½ hrs, or until the meat is tender. Cool to room temperature, then leave the meat in the liquid in the fridge for up to two days until you are ready to bake it.
• Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Lift the ham onto a board and, using a small sharp knife, remove the skin and string, leaving as much fat as possible on the joint. Score the fat in a criss-cross pattern, without cutting through the meat. Put the ham in a roasting tin lined with a double layer of foil.
• Heat the marmalade, sugar, lime juice, ginger and 2 star anise in a saucepan until the sugar and marmalade have melted. Leave to cool a little so the glaze thickens.
• Spread the glaze over the ham, then push star anise into some of the diamonds and bake for 40 mins until glossy and caramelised in patches. Baste the ham, spooning the glaze over it, a couple of times during the cooking time. Leave to cool slightly before slicing and serving.