Prunella (Selfheal) and Chrysanthemum Tea

Why people make this tea

After a stretch of late nights and rich, spicy meals, working folk often run with “rising liver fire,” Nourilo observes — irritable and short-tempered, with red-veined or dry eyes and patchy sleep. People take a holiday to unwind; the body needs a little cooling-down too. This simple, easy-to-brew tea of selfheal and chrysanthemum is offered for exactly that.

Method

1. Soak and rinse the selfheal; rinse the chrysanthemum.
2. Simmer the selfheal in 1.8 L of water for 30 minutes.
3. Add the chrysanthemum and cook 5 minutes more; add rock sugar to dissolve, reducing to about 900 ml. Serve.

Nourilo’s Tips

This tea is fragrant with a slight bitterness, so a little rock sugar makes it nicer — though you can leave it out. For the chrysanthemum, Hangzhou chrysanthemum (hang ju), tai ju or gong ju all work much the same.