Yellow chrysanthemum tea

Waking up in the morning with a sticky discharge around your eyes or poor vision is an indication of too much heat in the body. Chrysanthemum tea reduces heat and clears the eyes. You can buy the flowers, dried and in plastic packages, from Chinese markets or herbalists. Be sure to buy yellow chrysanthemums rather than white ones, which are used for treating sunstroke.

There are three ways of making this tea with the following ingredients:

 

 ·      10-20 yellow chrysanthemum flowers

 ·       3 cups (850 ml) of water

 

Method one

Set the water to boil and warm the teapot. Add 10-20 flowers to the heated pot. When the water has reached a fast boil pour it over the flowers. Leave to stand for 2-3 minutes before drinking. (You may wish to strain the tea into a cup, as the flowers break up and tend to float.)

Method two

For a fuller taste, brew some tea leaves with the chrysanthemums. To make the tea, add the flowers and the tea of your choice to the pot and proceed as before.

Method three

If you have a sweet tooth you can add rock sugar to this tea. Rock sugar crystals can be bought from Chinese stores. It has a very pleasant taste and is a lovely light golden color: If the lumps of sugar are too large, wrap them in a dish towel or paper and hit them with a hammer or rolling pin to break them into smaller pieces.

Wash and drain the flowers, and put them into a saucepan. Add the water and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down low and continue to cook the flowers for 25 minutes. Add the rock sugar and cook for another 3 minutes. Allow the tea to cool slightly, then strain and drink.

You can use the flowers twice to make tea. The flavor will be weaker the second time, but the tea will retain its curative properties.