Cooking Ingredients

Anise

Anise, (Bunga Lawang) com­mon name for an annual plant of the pars­ley fam­ily. Native to Egypt, it is also cul­ti­vated in Syria, Malta, Spain, and Ger­many. The seed of the plant, called aniseed, is used as a condi­ment, in the prepa­ra­tion of the liqueur anisette, and in med­i­cine as a stim­u­lant and to relieve flat­u­lence. Aniseed has an aro­matic, agree­able smell and a warm, sweet­ish taste. Both smell and taste are due to its oil, called oil of anise, which con­tains anet­hole. Anet­hole and its deriv­a­tives are used in per­fumes and flavorings.

Chi­nese anise is a small ever­green tree native to China. It is also known as star anise from the star like form of its fruit, the badian, which con­sists of 6 to 12 hard, woody, one-seeded carpels. The qual­i­ties of the fruit, seed, and oil closely resem­ble those of the com­mon anise, and the oil is used for the same purposes.

Basil

Basil , com­mon name for any of a genus of plants of the mint fam­ily. Basil is a sweet herb used for fra­grance and as a sea­son­ing for food. Sweet basil is an annual plant, a native of warm cli­mates, about 30 cm (about 12 in) high, with ovat­estalked leaves, and has long been cul­ti­vated in Europe. Bush basil is a small cul­ti­vated form. Basil, or moun­tain mint, is also a com­mon name for plants of a sep­a­rate, North Amer­i­can genus of the mint family.

Tofu

Bean­curd (Tofu), intro­duced by the Chi­nese, is now widely used in veg­etable dishes and salad, pro­vid­ing inex­pen­sive pro­tein. Bean­curd is sold in cakes about 8 cm (3 inches) square. This bean­curd is some­times com­pressed to expel much of the mois­ture form­ing hard bean­curd cakes. Do not con­fuse reg­u­lar bean­curd with soft or ‘silken’ bean­curd sold in many stores abroad; this is com­monly used for Chi­nese soups and in Japan­ese cuisine.

Bil­imbi

Bil­imbi, Sour (belimb­ing wuluh): This pale green acidic fruit about 5–8 cm (2–3 inchi) long, grows in clus­ters on a tree. A rel­a­tive of the large, five-edged sweet star­fruit, Bil­imbi is used whole or sliced to give a sour tang to some soups, fish dishes and sam­bals. Sour grape­fruit or tamarind juice can be used as subtitute.

Can­dlenut

Can­dlenut (Kemiri), com­mon name for an ever­green tree (a tree that keeps its foliage year-round) native to Malaysia and the Pacific Islands but now wide­spread through­out the trop­ics. The seeds, or “nuts,” are rich in oil and can be used as candles-hence the tree’s com­mon name. Poly­ne­sians who set­tled the Hawai­ian Islands about 1500 years ago brought can­dlenut seeds with them. Known there as the kukui, which means “light” or “lamp,” it is now the offi­cial tree of the state of Hawaii, and its nuts are com­monly pol­ished and made into leis, gar­lands worn around the neck.

Can­dlenut trees have numer­ous other uses. The oil can also be used in paints, var­nishes, soap, and other prod­ucts. The
roots and the shell of the fruit yield a black dye. The bark is rich in tan­nins, organic acids that can be used for tan­ning hides. When baked, the ker­nels are edi­ble, but when raw they are a potent laxative.

Car­da­mon

Car­damom (Kapu­laga), com­mon name for cer­tain plant species native to India and south­east­ern Asia, and for their aro­matic seeds (see Gin­ger). The true car­damom has large leaves and white flow­ers with blue stripes and yel­low bor­ders; it grows to about 3 m (about 10 ft) in height. The fruit is a small cap­sule with 8 to 16 brown seeds; the seeds are used as a spice.