Ginger & Garlic Decoction

Why people make this drink

When flu season peaks and you feel that familiar chill — slightly achy, blocked nose, loss of appetite, no fever but that washed-out heavy feeling — a hot bowl of ginger-garlic water is one of the oldest home remedies in the Chinese tradition. Ginger and garlic are found in virtually every culture’s cooking precisely because they are warming and invigorating. Here they are simmered together into a simple decoction that is easy to make, inexpensive, and surprisingly effective for that early, cold-type stage of a respiratory illness. Drink it warm, rest afterwards, and let the warmth do its work.