I’ve grown up surrounded by the strong belief of the healing power of nature. As a child, my parents ran an acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine clinic which during the summer holidays I would help package the herbal remedies my parents would prescribe to their patients. 

Herbal medicine is something that is deeply rooted in my family tradition. Both of my parents, who are originally from China, believe that it is a powerful remedy and they have passed some of their knowledge onto us.  For years, whenever we felt ill my mum would prescribe me with one of her herbal teas or even a simple sliced ginger infusion. I will be uploading some of her herbal recipes on here for you to try at home. 

For our first recipe, it is a dried dandelion tea. Dandelion is often considered a weed, something that you’d want to get rid of in your garden. However, in Chinese medicine it is considered a powerful herbal remedy.

In Chinese medicine, there is something called, ‘Yi Hei’ which literally translates to ‘Hot Air’ in english. It is all about finding the balance of your ‘Qi’, your bodies’ energy. Eating certain foods can throw your body off balance. There are ‘cold’ and ‘hot’ foods. Eating too many ‘hot’ foods such as deep fried goods can cause you to become ‘Yi Hei’ and then in turn you will suffer certain ailments such as a sore throat or breakouts of the skin. 

Dandelion tea is considered to be cooling, full of antioxidants and has anti-inflammatory properties. When you’re feeling run down, simply steep some dried dandelion in some boiling water and relax. 

Please note that we recommend that you consult with a qualified healthcare practitioner before using herbal products, particularly if you are pregnant, nursing or on any medications.

To make one cup of dandelion tea you will need:
5g dried dandelion
350ml of boiling water

Here we have used a glass teapot so we could share the benefits of the dandelion tea but this recipe makes about one mug of dandelion tea. Dandelion has a bitter, drying and cooling flavour. 

We love the benefits of dandelion so much that we use it as a key ingredient in one of our soap bars. To do this, we make our own dandelion oil infusion by slowing steeping dried dandelion powder in olive oil over a low heat for 12 hours. We then use this oil to make a soothing all natural dandelion soap bar.