Dried Ginger, Poria, Atractylodes and Licorice Soup

Why people make this soup

After Lunar New Year the weather can stay cold, and Nourilo reminds older readers — especially those with rheumatic aches, wear-and-tear joints, or a tired lower back — to keep warm and out of cold wind. This warming brew is a traditional way to support the spleen and dispel cold and damp.

Method

1. Rinse all the ingredients.
2. Cook in 1.2 L of water down to a generous half-bowl.
3. Drink warm.

Nourilo’s Tips

This brew targets aches mainly from the lower back down, and best suits a spleen-weak, damp constitution. If the rheumatic pattern comes with liver-blood insufficiency — cold, achy joints, numbness, worse at night, with dizziness or blurred vision — you may add codonopsis (dang shen) and astragalus (bei qi) 11 g each and prepared rehmannia (shu di) 19 g.