Apple Chinese Herbal Tea (For Coughs)
Soup Name:
Apple Chinese Herbal Tea (For Coughs)
Traditional Chinese Name:
蘋果止咳茶 (píng guǒ zhǐ ké chá)
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When a virus, cold, or flu has you down, my go to hot drink is usually a Chinese Herbal tea that addresses my illness. Lately, I have been tackling yet another virus strain that has left me with a cough and my Chinese Herbalist recommended this easy, smooth, vitamin C packed Chinese tea to address my cough and heal my lungs.
It’s a tea because I don’t use meats or bones, but I don’t actually put any tea leaves in it. The key ingredient is the dried seabed coconut (which is a lung healer and addresses coughs). Also throw in some dried snow pears, dried apricot kernals (north and south), dried lily bulbs, dried tangerine peel, sugared dates, and fresh apples.
What’s involved?
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 2 hours
Total time: 2 hours 30 mins
Serves: 2 cups
Ingredients
- 3 fresh apples, halved
- 1 large piece of Fu Ling or Tuckahoe
- 4 larges pieces of dried snow pears
- 1 tablespoon of north and south apricot kernals
- 1 tablespoon of dried lily bulbs
- 2 sugared dates
- 1 piece of dried tangerine peel
- 1 cup of dried seabed coconut
- 4 cups of water
According to my Chinese doctor, apples are the only fruit I can consume while with a cough, cold, virus, or flu. They are the most neutral of fruits. In a ceramic pot, boil your water (4 cups worth, which will reduce to 2 cups). When the water boils, add all the ingredients together and cover. Boil on medium for 2 hours until it reduces and the apples become soft.
In the end, you’re left with a slightly tart, slightly sweet, but very smooth and rich tea. You can even eat the apples! For those who don’t like the stuff floating around, you can strain the tea through a thin strainer as bits of apples may be dissolved into the tea (also very yummy!).
Cooking Instructions
- Boil your water in a ceramic pot
- Half your apples, keeping the skin on (so they don’t completely disintegrate into the tea)
- When your water boils, add all the ingredients in together
- Boil on medium for 2 hours
- Let cool, serve and enjoy!
- Or follow along in the video
For more videos, visit us on YouTube.
Hi Lady Tong,
This tea can be drunk for everyday during coughs?
Yes, this tea is designed for coughs. The key is the dried tangerine peel, fu ling, and the apricot kernals! Hope this helps! I will add more to this post to explain more!
Can I substitute fresh pears?
Yes, you can also substitute fresh snow pears, although maybe less. Fresh snow pears are a bit more cooling than their dried counterparts because of the curing process (which then warms them). Hope this helps!
Hi, u mentioned dried lily bulbs in the post but dried tulip bulbs in the recipe… is there a difference and is it ok not to use either?
Hi Fi! Yes yes, there are dried lily bulb, originally wrote tulip bulb, but have corrected! Thank you!
Hi, is this for a dry cough or wet cough? Or can it be used for both?
Thanks! Have been using all your cough/phlegm soup recipes for my daughter and they’re great!