xia ku cao recipe

recently i ate really too much fried food that many pimples pop out at my chin area!!! so kns ugly!!!! so in order to counter the heaty-ness.... i must drink herbal tea!!!! of cause you can get those bottled herbal tea from any chinese herb store but i felt that those kind is never as good as your DIY version... so today i will share the recipe on how to boil herbal tea = xia ku cao

xia ku cao aka selfheal spike/prunella/Spica Prunellae is a type of chinese herbs and it is commonly use to "drain fire" from your body.... usage includes
1. Clears liver and brightens the eyes - ascending liver fire with red, painful, swollen eyes, headache, dizziness
2. Clears heat and dissipates nodules - neck lumps, scrofula, lipoma, goiter, swollen glands due to phlegm fire.
3.Hypertension accompanied by liver fire or yang rising.
information taken from here....

i am not so sure about the 2nd & 3rd benefits but it is definitely good to drink when you are heaty.... mama also say xia ku cao can boil with meat & pig spleen then it is actually good for the eyes too..... the usage of meat may not be suitable for our halal friends out there but just the sweetened herbal drink is good for everyone =)

ingredients (amount for 2-3pax):
xia ku cao             75g (per pax dosage is 37.5g according to the packaging guildeline)
water                    3L
brown sugar         1 piece (i gauge about 60g of sugar)

brown sugar... you can use other brands too... or granulated sugar is fine too... photo taken from here.....

xia ku cao

xia ku cao can be bought at almost all the chinese herbal stores... mama bought it from eu yan sang...

Steps:
1. soak the xia ku cao in water for about 10min

dried xia ku cao

2. drain water & gently rinse again with water

wet xia ku cao

3. drain all the water

drained xia ku cao

dried vs wet xia ku cao

you can see the difference in size after washing... you will also notice that alot of the leaves & seeds will be lost in the water while washing but that's normal

4. boil water
5. add in xia ku cao & boil at big fire for 10min
6. turn down to small fire & continue boiling for additional 40min
7. add sugar (can adjust the amount of sugar depending on you liking but try not too add too much since sugar will make you fat)