Snow Pears and Chen Pi (Tangerine Peels) for Coughs and Congestion
Soup Name:
Recovery Healing Soup (for Wet Coughs, clearing phlegm and congestion)
Chinese Name:
雪梨化痰茶 (xuě lí huà tán chá)
This tea is slightly cooling in nature and sweet to taste.
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It seems that time of year again! The kids (seems like the whole city) is down with a cough and respiratory illnesses. Some symptoms include congestion in the chest (which is like a noisy cough basically) and lots of phlegm!
This sweet tea is perfect to support and reduce coughing, including getting rid of dampness in the lungs, and eliminating this phlegm build up.
The key ingredients here are the apricot kernals, the dried tangerine peels, and the rock sugar to eliminate the phlegm, and the barley to eliminate dampness.
This is not a replacement for any medication or doctor recommendation. I use this purely as supplemental.
What’s involved?
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Total time: 25 mins
Serves: 2 cups
Ingredients
- Half fresh snow pear, cubed
- 2 pieces of dried snow pear
- 1 piece of dried tangerine peel, sliced
- 15 pieces of apricot kernals
- 1 tablespoon of raw barley
- 1 small piece of rock sugar
- 3 cups of water
Cooking Instructions
- Soak the tangerine peel for at least an hour until it softens. Slice thinly or you can keep the whole piece. I slice it so that I can play around with taste and whether it’s too bitter or not, but this is purely experimental. I would suggest using a small piece at first.
- Cube the fresh snow pear, keeping the skin on (make sure it’s washed). I’ll only use half for this recipe (3 cups)
- Throw everything into a pot (or a boil safe tea pot like this one I found on amazon!)
- Boil on medium heat for 15 minutes
- Strain, serve and enjoy!
Any benefits?
- This tea is slightly cooling and designed to target the lungs
- It helps reduce cough, clear congestion in the lungs and chest area, eliminate phlegm and dampness
- The power ingredient here is the dried tangerine peel and is definitely an acquired taste. It’s quite pungent, so use it sparingly at first and just try to find that balance you like. Some people LOVE this taste and scent.
- This is a quick boil tea and you can have a tea ready in about 15 minutes
- A lot of these ingredients are readily available at your local Asian supermarkets
- Some people will make a big batch of this and store in the fridge (although personally, I’d rewarm or leave it at room temperature for consumption, but hot is best!)
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If I do not have dried snow pear, can I replace with fresh snow pears?
Hi Tina! You can definitely replace with fresh snow pears. I will sometimes combine both fresh and dried snow pears, they are just as effective. The difference I’ve noticed is that dried snow pears tend to be sweeter, so if you find the soup isn’t sweet enough, you can add more rock sugar. Hope this helps and good luck! Lisa
Do you use northern or southern apricot kernels? There are two types. I’m guessing the south as it’s sweeter? Thanks.