Selfheal, Chrysanthemum and Cassia Seed Tea (Xia Ku Cao Ju Hua Jue Ming Cha)

Why people make this tea

Selfheal (xia ku cao) is one of the workhorses of Cantonese home cooking for cooling teas. It is an ingredient most Hong Kong families know well — often sold pre-packaged for making liang cha (cooling herbal tea) at home. It has a broad traditional reputation: clearing liver fire, reducing swellings and lumps, clearing heat and toxins, stopping cough, and cooling the blood. In clinical traditional Chinese medicine settings, it also appears in formulas targeting thyroid nodules, lymph swellings, mastitis, and urinary stones.

Combined with chrysanthemum and cassia seed, this tea becomes a targeted blend for the liver-eye-blood-pressure axis — conditions that often cluster together in traditional thinking. Someone with eye redness, throbbing headaches, dizziness, or elevated blood pressure due to “liver yang rising” is the classic person for whom this tea is made.

Method

1. Rinse the selfheal spike and cassia seeds; rinse the chrysanthemum briefly.
2. Place selfheal and cassia seeds in a pot with 1.5–1.8 L of water.
3. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer for about 45 minutes.
4. Add the chrysanthemum flowers; simmer for a further 5 minutes.
5. Strain and drink while warm.

Nourilo’s Tips

This tea is clear and lightly fragrant. It is suitable as a general health-supporting drink for most people, and is also associated in traditional practice with benefits for fatty liver, hepatitis, and recovery from stroke-related facial or eye nerve issues. Those with a cold stomach or who feel cold easily should reduce frequency of this tea, as it leans toward the cooling side of the spectrum.