Skip to main content

Jing Bu Tang with Fresh Cordyceps

It helps to be nosey and poke around the wet market. Last week at the market, I saw some fresh cordyceps and asked the vegetable lady how to cook it. It ended up one of the more amazing discoveries - culminating in some soup of course!

She told me that fresh cordyceps can be simmered with Solomon's seal/yuk chuk and Chinese sage/ tong sum for a delightfully tasty and nourishing soup.

The best part about this Lip Sin wet market is that every stall is within walking distance. In no time I was at the Chinese herbalist - this youthful, ever-cheerful guy who sits in a tiny cubicle of herbs and stuff! He's practically hemmed in by his herbs. Anyway, I show him the fresh cordyceps I just bought and asked him what goes well with this herb. He gave me a packet of pre-packed herbs labeled "Jing Bu Tang" (Clearing and Nourishing Soup).

When I got home, I got right into action. And the end result was good. The soup was flavourful and clear, and best of all, it healed my coughing! Fantastic stuff.

So what's in the Jing Bu Tang? And how to make this anti-coughing soup? Here's the recipe.

1 packet fresh cordyceps (or Dong Chong Xia Cao)
1 packet Jing Bu Tang comprising Solomon's seal, medlar seeds, wai san, pak kei, tong sum and red dates (if your herbalist doesn't have this prepacked, just list the herbs and he'll probably be able to make up a pack for you on the spot)

As usual, bring water in a pot to boil. Add in blanched pork ribs, fresh cordyceps and Jing Bu Tang herbs. Bring to a rolling boil for 10 minutes. Lower fire, cover pot and simmer for 2-3 hours on low fire. Add salt to season after 2.5 hours. (Use Himalaya rock salt if you can.)
Serve hot.

When I was young, I often heard my aunts say that cordyceps were dried caterpillars. Now I know it isn't true - actually cordyceps sinensis is a caterpillar fungus that grows on a type of caterpillar. These days, this parasite is cultivated using grain. Strange or not, this herb works on the lung and kidney meridians to help nourish the lungs and strengthen the kidneys and enhances essence/jing. It also helps combat coughing by nourishing lung yin.

In olden day China, the emperor kept this herb exclusively for himself!

Comments

TC Lai said…
You might want to consider this recipe as well.

http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/special/1999/wisdom/soup.html

It involves Chinese dried figs and apricot kernels (Chinese almonds).
Krista Goon said…
Hi TC

Thanks! It'll be helpful to the rest of the people who read this blog too.
Anonymous said…
According to Chinese physicians I have consulted, cultivated "cordyceps" containing the fungus only are ineffective. The actual cordyceps content in capsules and essences is also highly questionable. A tropical species of "cordyceps" found on the Cameron Highlands is also of no medicinal value. Only wild Himalayan cordyceps are effective. I believe the so call "fresh cordyceps" you bought from pasar are cordycep lookalike roots and definitely not cordycep.
Anonymous said…
What healed your coughin is the Jing Bu Tang, not the so-called fresh 'cordyceps'. There's no such thing as fresh cordyceps and definitely not available at the fresh market locally
Krista Goon said…
Hi Anon:
Thanks for clarifying about the fresh cordyceps. Yes, sometimes we need alternative information because I can't say my vege lady is always correct. She tells me stuff she knows and perhaps she heard it from someone. That's the thing about us Chinese people. We have lots of hearsay and folklore. I am trying in my own way to debunk some myths, find out more about herbs and their actual uses. We question, probe, think and ask because we want to know more and knowing more isn't so bad especially if it helps the knowledge get better.

Popular posts from this blog

Astralagus Tea (Huang Qi) For Liver, Kidneys and Immunity

I recently bought a small container of wild astralagus slices when I was back home in Banting to visit my dad. There's really nothing much to do in Banting except spend time with my dad or take him out for breakfast of bak kut teh or nasi lemak.  The nearest and most interesting place is Tanjung Sepat which is a seaside village that has become rather prosperous due to the influx of local tourists from other parts of Selangor or even other states.  Many come to Tanjung Sepat for its fresh seafood and fish and the seafood restaurants are a big attraction. There's also a scenic spot called the Lovers' Bridge which in the 1990s was a rickety, almost falling down wooden bridge jutting out to sea.  This is where the fishing sampan or fishing boats would moor and have their catch hauled up to the shore. I am not sure if this bridge was demolished but the bridge is no longer there. A little further down is now a man-made cement bridge that juts out to sea. Tourists can walk out to

24 Herb Tea - Bitter, Foul-Tasting But Oh So Good For You!

Was out running a couple of errands this entire afternoon and ended up buying groceries at the nearby supermarket. If I had a choice I wouldn't go into this decade-old supermarket because it's small, cramped and you tend to knock into other shoppers with your trolley (yes, the aisles are that narrow). Nic and I figured that we might as well buy our groceries since we were in this vicinity and he did need some coffee. Finally we ended up with a trolley full of cheese, butter, coffee and noodles. Anyway, I was getting thirsty after all the errands and shopping. We decided to stop and have a drink at this stall which sells Chinese herbal tea. This uncle who mans it is actually a Hong Kong native who has been living in Malaysia for a long time. He drives a little white van which he parks at the corner of a junction and opens up for business. You see, he sells hot and cold Chinese herbal teas of all types - the kind that is slowly boiled and brewed. It's common to see Mal

Have You Seen Curry Leaf Berries?

Ripe berries or fruits from my 9 foot curry leaf tree.  This is a photo of the ripe fruits from my 9 foot curry leaf tree or known scientifically as  Murraya koenigii   . Yes, most curry leaf plants are about human height.  Mine is a bit special because when it was still a young sapling, I used a lot of my own homemade compost . It had so much of nutrients that it started growing taller and taller.  Right now, it is shading the compost pots!  Which means I am cooler when I stand under this tree to do my daily composting. You see how wonderful it all works out to be?  Because these berries attract the Asian koel (black birds with fiery red eyes which make the annoying loud "ku-yo, ku-yo" sounds), the curry leaf seeds get propagated everywhere.  Yet some drop right under the tree and start growing. I have a curry leaf sapling attack haha. I keep pulling the saplings up as there's just too many.  Besides throwing them into my curries (my most