Witchweed — Lo Fo Tong 老火湯

Witchweed

獨腳金

soothes the livereases indigestionwhets the appetite除小兒疳積安睡（小兒夜睡不寧）

The whole dried plant, root and all, of witchweed, a tiny semi-parasitic grassland herb, sold in paper-wrapped bundles at herbal shops. Grassy and faintly bitter-sweet, it is washed carefully of sand and simmered with lean pork and honey dates in the classic children's soup.

TCM properties

Nature · cooling　Flavour · sweet、bland　Meridians · liver、spleen、stomach

Traditional food therapy

A Cantonese nursery classic: tradition simmers it with lean pork and honey dates to ease a child's food stagnation, open the appetite and settle restless sleep.

Cautions — read first

Children whose spleen and stomach run cold should drink little of it
Pregnant women should use it only under a practitioner's guidance
Customary amounts are 1 to 3 錢 for a child and 3 to 5 錢 for an adult, and no more than that
Avoid using it in quantity alongside very cold and cooling items, so the spleen and stomach are not harmed

Preparation

Use the whole plant with the root still on, washed clean of mud and grit. Boil it with 蜜棗 (candied honey dates) and lean pork for 1 to 1.5 hours.

Origin

廣東、廣西（嶺南草藥） — uncommon even at AU herbal shops; no retail listing observed

Availability in Australia

Herbal shops / specialists

Pairs well with

Candied honey date Lean pork Yellowcress / marsh cress

Soups that use this ingredient · 1

Striga (witchweed) and honey date soup with lean porkNot yet surveyed (we say so honestly)

獨腳金蜜棗瘦肉湯

soothes the livereases indigestionwhets the appetiteSummerAll year

百子櫃Witchweed· 20 g (5 mace)百子櫃Candied honey date· 3街市Lean pork· 225 g (6 taels)

“Heaty? Then this is the pot.”