Benefits:
Nourishes the skin, lungs, sexual fluids, boosts the immune system.
This is our version of the famous White Snow Fungus Soup. It can stay in the fridge for up to 6 days. This soup does not have to be hot; it can be room temperature or slightly cool. When you drink it you will immediately feel the soothing and moistening healing sensations. This soup is very cooling so it is wonderful for hot weather, bringing back internal moisture, helping you sleep better, decreasing hot flashes, and increasing the body’s Yin. It is great for dry lungs anytime of the year.
Ingredients:
- White Snow Herb (Bai Mu Er): 1 big circle
- Lily Bulb (dried) (Bai He): ½ a cup dried fruit
- Lycium Berries (little red dates) (Go Qi Zi): ¼ cup dried fruit
- Asian Pears (optional) (sliced thin or dried slices): ½ cup dried fruit
- Fresh Peach, thin slices (optional): 2 peaches
- Rock sugar: 8 rocks
Directions:
Rinse the dried herbs and soak in separate bowls of cold water for 3 hours.
Combine the soaked herbs with 10 cups of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 hours.
Add Lycium Berries. Then add fresh sliced peach (and pear if you used fresh). Add Rock Sugar to taste.
Each of the ingredients and their actions in Chinese Medicine:
White Snow Tremella (Yin Er, Bai Mu Er):
For more than 2,000 years Asian herbalists have used Tremella to help the body recover from health conditions that cause a deep dryness in the body. Today it is often used after a high fever, or after radiation and/or chemotherapy. It is also used to recover from too much summer sun, hot flashes, dry cough, It is without question one of the premier beauty herbs of Asia. It has a special affinity to the skin. When consumed regularly, the skin becomes soft, moist and pliant. It is a tonic to help keep the lungs, stomach and digestive track healthy. It is best as part of a soup. The taste is very bland, but it becomes delicious when you add a little sweetner and some some fruit, either fresh, dried or canned. The two most important ingredients are the White Snow Fungus and the rock sugar.
Lilly Bulb (Bai He):
Lilly bulb is sweet, bitter and cool. It moistens the lungs, clears heat, stops coughs, heals sore throats, and calms the spirit. Lilly bulb strenghtnes the sotmah and promotes urination. You can buy lilly bulb online.
Rock Sugar (Bing Tang):
Rock sugar is sweet and cooling. It lubricates the lungs, treats dry cough and moistens the body. Buy rock sugar online.
*You can substitute regular white sugar here. Regular sugar is sweet and warm so it adds a little heat, but it is an ok second choice.
OR
Honey (better than white sugar):
add at the end because honey should not be cooked. Honey is also moistening for the lungs and the skin.
Asian Pear:
Asian pear is cool, sweet and slightly sour. Pears nourish yin, replenishes body fluids, and quenches thirst from extreme heat.
Lycium Fruit (Go Qi Zi, Goji Berry):
Goji berries are sweet and neutral. They enrich the blood and yin, nourish and tonify the liver and kidneys, calm the heart, and brighten the eyes. Goji berries are called the “happiness herb”. They also increase sexual fluids and are often used in fertility formulas.
Peach:
Peaches are sour and sweet. They moisten the lungs and intestines, build body fluids, and relieve high blood pressure. Having a sour taste means peaches are an astringent, so they help the body to hold body fluids in.
