Radish Leaf & Ginger Tea

Why people make this tea

Most people throw away the greens on top of their radishes — but in traditional food therapy, the leaf is often considered as valuable as the root. White radish is broadly used in Chinese cooking as a digestive aid; it is associated with clearing heat from the lungs and stomach, promoting urination, and helping food move through the gut more smoothly. Adding the leaves gives you an extra hit of vitamins and minerals, and folk herbalists have long used dried radish greens brewed as a strong tea to soothe digestive troubles. Combined with a few slices of fresh ginger to warm things up, this makes a wonderfully simple and economical daily drink.

Who it suits / who should be cautious

• Good for adults with sluggish digestion, a bloated or heavy feeling after meals, hiccups, or mild sore throat
• Ginger makes the formula warming, so it is suitable even for people who tend to feel cold
• Radish has a mildly cooling and moving quality — those with a very weak or cold constitution should add extra ginger and avoid daily long-term use
• If you feel that eating radish “breaks your qi” (a traditional concern), adding garlic and ginger helps counterbalance this

Why these ingredients (the food-therapy logic)

• White radish with leaves (bai luo bo): The root is used in Cantonese tradition to clear lung and stomach heat, promote fluid movement, ease digestion, and relieve a congested, uncomfortable chest; the leaves are rich in vitamins and share similar digestive properties; folk use includes boiling dried leaves as a tea to ease dysentery
• Fresh ginger (sheng jiang): Warming, dispersing, and digestive — it counteracts the mildly cool nature of radish and adds circulatory warmth to the formula

Ingredients (2 bowls / 1 pot)

Ingredient	Amount	Notes
White radish with leaves	150 g (4 liang)	Scrub well; do not peel — use both root and leaves
Fresh ginger	5 slices	Unpeeled is fine
Water	3 bowls (~700 mL)

Method

1. Wash the radish and its leaves thoroughly (no need to peel the radish).
2. Slice the radish root into thin rounds. Chop the leaves roughly.
3. Bring 3 bowls of water to a rolling boil in a pot.
4. Add the radish slices, chopped leaves, and ginger slices.
5. Boil for 30 minutes over medium heat.
6. Drink the tea warm. One pot is a single day’s serving.

Bro Niu’s tips

Radish is said in folk tradition to help neutralise gas fumes — households that cook with gas stoves may find it worthwhile to keep radish soup as a regular dish. If you are concerned about radish being too “qi-breaking” (po qi) for frequent use, simply add a clove of garlic and a couple of extra ginger slices to the pot. Once you have cooked the tea until it is well reduced, the cooling quality of radish mellows considerably — boiling it for a full 30 minutes is key to keeping it gentle on the stomach.

Community questions answered (selected)

• Q (annie): My grandmother dried some radish sprouts (luo bo miao). How much should I use per pot, and do you have any soup suggestions? Bro Niu: For a pot for the whole family, use about 2 liang (75 g) of fresh sprouts, or 1 liang (38 g) of dried. You could pair dried radish greens with corn, black wood ear mushrooms, and carrot in a pork soup — it is said to support healthy cholesterol and blood pressure levels.

• Q (mabel): Will drinking this every day be too cooling for the body? Bro Niu: As long as you boil it for a full hour, it will not be too cooling. Once your cough or digestive issue has resolved, you can stop drinking it — there is no need to continue indefinitely.

---

Published May 11, 2010 · Adapted and translated for Nourilo from a traditional home-kitchen recipe. Approx. 3 min read.