Smilax rhizome (tu fu ling)

The rhizome of Smilax glabra, sold fresh in chunks or as hard beige dried slices. Earthy and faintly bitter-plain, it withstands hours of boiling and lends damp-clearing pots a quiet, woody depth; the fibrous slices are strained off, not eaten.

TCM properties

Nature · neutral　Flavour · sweet、bland　Meridians · liver、stomach

Traditional food therapy

In Cantonese food therapy it is the backbone of damp-and-heat clearing pots, traditionally boiled with hairy fig root or rice beans to clear damp toxin and free the joints.

Cautions: read first

• Take care if you have liver and kidney yin deficiency
• Tradition says to avoid tea while you are taking it
• The spent pieces are coarse and fibrous, so do not eat the soup solids

Preparation

Slice fresh 土茯苓, or soak and rinse the dried slices. It is hard and stands up to long boiling.

Origin

Guangdong, Guangxi and other hill country south of the Yangtze. Sold through practitioners in Australia (granules and wholesale), seldom in shops

Availability in Australia

Herbal shops / specialists

Pairs well with