Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
30 gm ginger
3 star anise
3 tbsps sherry
2/3 cup stock
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 bay leaves
2/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup white vinegar
2 white onions, sliced
salt
8 peppercorns

Procedure:
Bone the chicken breasts, crush the ginger and star anise, and place in a saucepan with the chicken, sherry and stock. Simmer for 20 minutes until the chicken is tender. Slice the chicken into thin strips and place a bowl with the crushed garlic, bay leaves, olive oil, vinegar, onions, salt and pepper. Mix well and leave to marinate in the refrigerator for about 2 days before serving. Serve with a spinach salad and lemon wedges.

Fragrant fruit salad

Ingredients
75 gm sugar
2 pieces of star anise
1 cinnamon stick
200 ml cold water
1 ripe pineapple
2 ripe mangoes
250 gm lychees
4 tbsps rice wine or dry sherry

To decorate:
star anise
cape gooseberries (physalis)
pineapple leaves

Procedure:
Put the sugar, star anise and cinnamon stick into a heavy saucepan and pour in the cold water. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved, then boil without stirring for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover and leave to cool.

Meanwhile, prepare the fruit. Remove the skin and eyes from the pineapple, then cut the fruit lengthways into quarters. Cut away the hard woody core, then slice the flesh crossways into bite-sized pieces. Cut the mangoes lengthways into 3 pieces, avoiding the long central stone. Cut a cross-hatch design in the flesh of the two rounded pieces of mango, then push them inside out so that the squares of flesh stand out. Slice off the squares of flesh. Cut the remaining mango flesh from around the stone, then cut it into bite-sized pieces. Peel the rough skin off the lychees with a knife, make a long slit down one side of each fruit and remove the stone.

Put the fruit into a large bowl, strain the sugar syrup over it and add the rice wine or sherry. Stir gently to mix. Cover tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Before serving, decorate the fruit salad with whole star anise, cape gooseberries and pineapple leaves.

To expose the orange fruit of the cape gooseberries, open the papery husks and pull them back from the fruit, turning the husks inside out. Twist the husks very tightly at the base so that they stay put.

To save time, buy tubs of ready-prepared fresh pineapple and mango packed in their own natural juice. Fresh lychees are seasonal, and are usually to be found in the shops in the winter mouths. If you can't get them, used canned lychees, which are very good.

Sesame roasted tuna in orange and star anise marinade

Ingredients
500 gm tuna fillet
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into fat, chunky chips
sea salt
olive oil, for roasting
sesame oil, for roasting
sesame oil, for brushing
orange and star anise marinade
4 tbsps soy sauce
grated rind and juice of 2 oranges
2 tbsps honey
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1-inch piece of fresh ginger, minced 2 strips lemon zest
1 star anise
1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

Procedure:
Place the tuna fillet in a shallow dish, beat the marinade ingredients together, pour over the fish, and chill for a few hours. Place the sweet potato chips in a roasting pan, and sprinkle with olive oil and salt. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 400 degree F for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, drain the tuna, pat dry on paper towels, then brush with sesame oil. Add the tuna to the roasting pan and continue to cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, until the fish is tender but still pink in the middle, and the potatoes are golden brown, and soft when pierced with a fork. Serve with a green salad.