Exploring new ingredients for my Apply Chinese Herbal Tea

Hey guys, it's Lisa Tong for TheChineseSoupLady.com. Today we're going to explore a tea that's going to help moisten the lungs and remove a pesky cough that's been going around in the family lately. If you've not done so already, don't forget to like and subscribe and get notifications for the latest and the greatest on Chinese soups. For today's Chinese tea, I've not gone too crazy on the Chinese herbs and stuck to ingredients that you can find in either supermarkets or your Chinese herbal store. First, let's get started on exploring the ingredients that you'll need for this tea. You'll need dried snow pears, three dried large dates, a handful of dried figs, dried maidong, dried apricot kernels, dried Chinese yam, dried seabed coconut, and two fresh apples along with three litres of water. The highlight of the tea is going to be these dried snow pears, and you can find them in any Chinese supermarket or at the Chinese herb store. Another key ingredient to this tea is what's called seabed coconut. It is the fruit of a palm tree, but unlike its coconut cousin, it doesn't have any liquid inside. The flesh itself is white, and when dried, it looks like this. You can find this either dried or frozen in Chinese supermarkets or herbal stores as well. These are great for coughs and nourishing the lungs. What we've also got are some of the sweet additives. So we've got the big dried dates, as well as some small figs. There's one interesting ingredient I want to introduce you to, and I don't use this very often, but I did come across it, which is very good for the lungs. It's called a maidong, or my dome literally in English, and it's actually the root of a perennial herb. To me, a lot of Chinese ingredients are very foreign to me, and when I first saw this, I thought of little worm, but this is really good for the lungs, and you can find this in most Chinese herbal stores. On top of the dried ingredient, you can add some fresh fruit. I'll use apples today, which are very neutral. You can also add pears. Some people do add fresh snow pears, which also helps, but not too much because snow pears are a bit cooling and will irritate more cough. One thing to consider when you're making Chinese herbal teas is the pot that you're using in it. The Chinese do suggest using either ceramic or glass pots. This is so that it really maintains the flavor because metal pots tend to create a metallic flavor in the super tea, but for the purpose of today, I need a big serving, so I've gone with my stainless steel pot. To make this tea, in your pot, add in all the dried ingredients to the bottom and pour in three liters of cold water and begin to boil on medium heat. I tend to chop my apples with both the skin and seeds. This is so it doesn't disintegrate in the tea as it boils. Then add this directly to your pot, cover, and let it boil for 30 minutes on medium heat. After 1.5 hours of boil on low heat, you've got a rich, delicious, slightly sweet, and slightly tart hot tea for the whole family. You can serve in a cup or bowl, and I'll store this in a glass jar in the fridge where you can pour out anytime and just reheat or microwave. For more recipes, visit us at thechinesesouplady.com. Enjoy and cook on!