Hawthorn, Malt, and Radish Seed Tea

Why people make this tea

After a holiday meal — or really any occasion involving mooncakes, roast meats, or a particularly generous spread — Nourilo reaches for this simple three-ingredient tea. Where the roselle-hawthorn combination focuses on fat and blood metabolism, this formula targets the classical TCM concept of “food stagnation”: the heavy, overfull, distended feeling when food sits in the stomach without moving along as it should. All three ingredients in this tea have a long history as digestive aids in Chinese folk medicine, and together they cover most types of after-meal discomfort.

Method

1. Rinse all three ingredients briefly in cool water.
2. Place in a pot with 1.8 L of water.
3. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce to a gentle simmer.
4. Cook for 45 minutes until the liquid reduces to approximately 1.2 L.
5. Strain and serve warm. The tea has a slightly tart, malty flavour and needs no sweetener, though a small amount of honey can be added if desired.

Nourilo’s Tips

• This tea is suitable for the whole family as a digestive aid. A child aged 15 months or older can drink about half a cup.
• Pregnant women: replace hawthorn with extra barley malt if using this for indigestion — but read the breastfeeding caution above.
• Breastfeeding mothers: use only hawthorn and radish seeds, omitting the malt entirely.
• If you experience persistent bloating and gas unrelated to overeating, Nourilo suggests looking into a Chinese herbal formula containing xiang fu and sha ren (available as prepared pills like Xiang Sha Yang Wei Wan) or seeing a practitioner for a tailored approach.