The Pot
The most suitable pot is ceramic. Glass is okay. It is important that your pot has a lid. Materials to avoid include cast iron and aluminium. Stainless steel is better than other metals. Teflon coatings are not as good as ceramic.
Cooking
Soak the herbs: Place the herbs in water. The water should cover the herbs by about an inch. Let them sit for one hour.
Boiling the herbs: Bring to a rolling boil. Then turn down to a low simmer. Cook the herbs for 20-30 minutes with the lid on. At the end of the cooking approximately 1 mug of liquid remains.
Strain the infusion into a mug.
Repeat: Leaving the residue in the pot, add another one pint of water. Repeat the above cooking method: bring to boil, and then simmer again for another 20-30minutes until about one mug of liquid remains. Strain the tea again.
Mix the two shares together, then divide into two (for one day) or four (for two days) equal portions to take twice a day. The volume taken each time should not be over 200 ml (about 7 fl. oz.).
How to drink it
It should be drank warm or at room temperature. If the taste is so unpalatable that you can't drink it, water it down a bit. This helps a great deal. Also, it seems that after time the body begins to crave a certain formula, especially one that is well suited. The taste will become more and more palatable.
When to take your herbs?
Generally, as a rule, it is best to take your herb tea 30-60 minutes before eating, on an empty stomach. This provides the best absorption of the ingredients. If the herbs cause a little stomach upset, drink the herb tea 30-60 minutes after eating.
The three most common problems when the formula cannot have its best results are:
Taking the medicine at the wrong time (e.g. fertility patients taking the medicine at the wrong time of her period);
The wrong dose;
Taking other medication at the same time.
The Cooking pots
I wish I can say that you do not need special equipment to make chinese herbal soups. But you do.
A number of chinese herbs react with metal so it is not advisable to cook herbal soups in pots made with metal. The ideal soup pots for cooking chinese herbal soups are the slow cooker, the ceramic double boiling jar, and the claypot.
The slow cooker is great for making herbal soups. Not only does it have a earthern inner pot, it can control the cooking temperature and achieve a steady simmer without needing close supervision.
