![]() ![]() ![]() The stronger the taste, the medicinal properties are stronger in the brewed tea.īefore steeping. ![]() The general rule of thumb though is you don’t want it to be too bland tasting. For the premixed ones, it’s also not necessary to use it all at once. I won’t include too much of a recipe because each batch can be different in size and this includes premixed packages. My dad says he sees 菊花 chrysanthemum flower more commonly these days in other pre-mixed bags, but from what he was familiar with, 五花茶 ng fa cha generally never had chrysanthemum in it. Instead of 木棉花 kapok flower and 夏枯草 heal-all, it includes槐花 sophora flower and 厚朴花 magnolia flowers. He still refers to it, but in that when it comes to 五花茶 ng fa cha, it has a slightly different combination. My dad has this really old book of traditional Chinese medicine he bought about 40 years ago when he was in Hong Kong. 夏枯草 Heal-all - kills bacteria and removes toxins 金銀花 Japanese Honeysuckle - very fragrant and sweet, also kills bacteria and removes toxins 雞蛋花 Plumeria - generally good for digestive tract 木棉花 Kapok flower - generally good digestive tract There’s a lot more behind the medicinal purposes, but that goes deep into a topic about Chinese medicine that I know very little about so for the sake of simplicity, I’m only going to list the most broad information my dad told me. Traditional ones will stick to just five and they can vary by whoever that makes it.Īccording to my dad, these are the five flowers that are traditional to him and listed next to them are briefly what purpose they serve. Different people make them with different flowers, with a minimum of five of them. It’s more focused on maintaining the health of your 腸胃 cheung wai (digestive tract). 五花茶 ng fa cha (five flower tea) serves a more specific purpose out of the more broad herbal teas 涼茶 leung cha. This is the sort of stuff I think is probably going to get largely ignored by many American born Chinese, but I think it’s still worth trying to write this information down in English for those that may feel lost in trying to reconnect to this. He’s said it’s a lot harder to record 涼茶 leung cha because certain plants used in the 涼茶 leung cha he’s familiar with with are unavailable in America and is endemic to the area where he grew up in Zhongshan. It’s really tricky to learn this sort of thing over the phone, so it’s a great time for me to be able to sit down with my dad to help identify these plants for these teas. I think this bitter flavor is unpopular with younger people and those with a Westernized palette, but this sort of thing is also really important to Cantonese cuisine and shows how seamless cuisine is tied with health and general well being. These teas can also vary by the person who makes it. Based on the region inside of Guangdong, these teas can vary as well based on what’s available from the land and can include endemic plants found nowhere else. Both of my parents grew up from farming families so it was common for them to have pretty extensive knowledge of foraging not just for food, but also for medicine. Part of the reason is also that it reflects the vegetation that is produced from the land. They’re pretty bitter and drunk for general regulation of health for its cleansing properties. Guangdong folks drink herbal teas 涼茶 leung cha and I believe this is more of a regional sort of thing. ![]()
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