Ginseng Chrysanthemum Tea 洋参菊花茶

by wiffy on November 6, 2008

in Asian,Drinks,Non-Alchoholic Drinks,Recipes

Ginseng Chrysanthemum Tea
Ginseng Chrysanthemum Tea 洋参菊花茶

I love American ginseng and because of its inherent cooling properties, it is a perfect ingredient in hot and humid Singapore. The one I used is the inexpensive type called American ginseng “fibers” or “beards” which are small, thin and wispy looking. You can easily get a packet for less than S$10 here. This type of ginseng is frequently used for cooking dishes such as ginseng chicken soup and foil-wrapped steamed ginseng with chicken, but you can also make a cooling herbal tea with it. In this recipe, ginseng is paired with chrysanthemum flowers, a popular combination. This is a great tasting and cooling herbal drink which is ultra refreshing especially in hot weather.


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Ginseng & Chrysanthemum Flowers
American Ginseng, 洋参须 & Chrysanthemum Flowers (
菊花)

A well known property of this ginseng is that it is very ‘cooling’. So consuming it will supposedly reduce your body “heatiness” (降火). It is also known to keep one mentally alert (提神), therefore you should avoid consuming this this drink too close to bedtime. Read more about American ginseng fiber here. As for Chrysanthemum, it is known to be cooling, thirst-quenching and detoxifying. This is one healthy Chinese herbal drink to make now and then for the family.

Ingredients
(Serves 2)

- 50g chrysanthemum flowers (菊花/朵朵香)
- 30g American Ginseng “Fibers” or “Beards”(洋参须)
- 2 litres of water
- 70g rock sugar (adjust according to taste)

Directions
1. Bring chrysanthemum flowers and water to a boil in a pot. Reduce heat and simmer for less than a minute. Take out the chrysanthemum using a strainer.
2. Add ginseng and simmer for another 5 minutes. Take out ginseng using a strainer.
3. Add rock sugar to taste and off fire when the sugar has dissolved. Serve the drink at room temperature or chilled.

Cooking Notes
1. If you do not want to use a strainer, you can put the ginseng and chrysanthemum flowers in disposable soup pouches and discard the entire pouch after simmering.

Similar Recipes
- Canadian Ginseng, Chrysanthemum and Wolfberries Tea
- Ginseng Tea

More Cooling Tea Recipes
- Chrysanthemum Tea
- Lemon Barley Drink
- Water Chestnut and Bamboo Drink

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Leave a Comment

{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }

1 lisaiscooking November 7, 2008 at 12:05 am

Interesting. Thanks for describing the types of Ginseng. I’ve had Korean, but I’ve never tried American (I didn’t know there was a difference!)

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2 Little Corner of Mine November 7, 2008 at 1:02 am

Congratulation first for winning the pumpkin challenge! YAY!

I have lots of 洋参须 in my fridge. I used it to cook herbal soup and boil like you when my hubby has sore throat. I never try it with Chrysanthemum before though, should try this next time. Thanks!

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3 didally November 7, 2008 at 1:20 am

Now I know more about ginseng. :-)

Congrats for winning the challenge, it’s really a very interesting chawanmushi. :-)

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4 Bharti November 7, 2008 at 4:11 am

How interesting. I wonder where I can buy some ginseng now..probably the health food store.

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5 [eatingclub] vancouver || js November 7, 2008 at 5:01 am

Congratulations on the featured recipe!

My mother has been trying to get me to drink American ginseng for the cooling effect. Seems like I’m too yang. I just have to learn to love it.

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6 Darius T. Williams November 7, 2008 at 8:20 am

When I saw this the first thing I thought of was tea!!!

Looks great!

-DTW

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7 lk November 7, 2008 at 11:03 am

Congrats! congrats! Great post! Very informative. I learn something new today. Tks! Great shots too!

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8 Tastes of Home November 7, 2008 at 2:23 pm

thanks for all the info! hearing about your widsom tooth worries me hehe coz mine are still not out yet..:(

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9 Dee November 7, 2008 at 6:03 pm

Hey congrats! You deserve to win – that was a pretty impressive recipe :) I love chrysanthemum tea but have never tried it with ginseng before.

Hope you’re feeling better now. I’ve had a couple of false alarms with my wisdom teeth, and seeing how I love my dentist I’m now quivering.

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10 Ellena November 7, 2008 at 11:36 pm

Wow.. this drink look great!!!! I love homemade chrysanthemum tea…….. Thanks for sharing… :D

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11 Steamy Kitchen November 8, 2008 at 6:24 am

Lovely photo! Great composition and lighting.

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12 Katie November 8, 2008 at 7:56 am

Yum, I love tea. I am actually drinking a cup right now!

I’m glad you’re feeling better from your surgery :-)

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13 Jun November 8, 2008 at 12:00 pm

I am really impressed! I am such a noob when it comes to chinese / any kind of medicinal herbs. I just drink / eat whatever I am told off by my mother.

I hope you feel better soon.

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14 beachloverkitchen November 8, 2008 at 2:33 pm

now you make me wanna to make some of this american gingseng drink! ouch! now you remind me of WHB!!

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15 Marysol November 8, 2008 at 3:02 pm

Well, now I’m on a quest for ginseng.

NC, I’m glad you’re feeling better.

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16 tigerfish November 8, 2008 at 5:45 pm

Congrats on the win! You are HOT!…now need more American Ginseng? ;p

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17 Ning November 8, 2008 at 9:11 pm

Congratulations on your win! See? That is why I crowned you master chef already! :) I love chrysanthemum tea and american ginseng drink, but I’ve never combined them together yet. Thanks for the idea! :)

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18 wiffy November 10, 2008 at 9:07 am

Hi everyone… thanks for your kind words … I’m so touched :XO:

Tastes of Home, oh dear, hope I didn’t scare you. Don’t worry, mine was a special difficult case … even got an expert to do the extraction for me because he specialises in difficult ones XD

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19 Kalyn November 10, 2008 at 10:30 am

Very interesting. I didn’t realize there were so many types of ginseng. Hope you’re feeling better!

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20 smallsmallbaker November 10, 2008 at 2:42 pm

Hi, I have tagged you for a meme. Check out my blog and have fun!

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21 WokkingMum November 10, 2008 at 5:17 pm

I don’t know why I will feel giddy :? when I smell chrysanthemum and feel nausea :mrgreen: when I drink ginseng tea since young. My hubby said I got a weird “allergy”. :P Can you imagine I had to pinch my nose when I make chrysanthemum tea for my hubby. :roll: hahaha …

Congratulations on winning the Cookthink’Pumpkin challenge! It was a well deserved win! :up: :D

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22 wiffy November 11, 2008 at 9:53 pm

Kalyn, thank you for your kind words =)

ssb, thanks for the tag! ^^

wm, thank you! Wow you are allergic to chrysanthemum and yet you prepare it for your hubby! You are the most dedicated chef I know :up:

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23 Nilmandra November 14, 2008 at 6:04 am

Ginseng is too bitter for me, I’m a wimp, heh :)

And congrats on winning the root source challenge!

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24 wiffy November 16, 2008 at 8:56 am

Try the ginseng chrysanthemum and add more rock sugar, hee … Thanks Nilmandra :p

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25 tommy July 23, 2009 at 5:10 am

be careful if u drink to much u may have a problem with a liver that i have this experiece with it

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26 Samantha February 5, 2012 at 4:41 pm

Hello, where can I buy chrysanthemum flowers in Singapore? And, how much do they cost?

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27 wiffy February 5, 2012 at 10:03 pm

Hi, I got mine from Hock Hua (Fu Hua) Medical Hall, they are located at shopping malls. You can check out any Chinese medical halls too. It’s about S$5 a packet but there are varying prices for different grades.

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