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TCM Treasures - Snake gourd fruit
By Zhang Qian |
June 23, 2013, Sunday
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Print Edition
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SIMPLIFIED Chinese: 瓜蒌 Pinyin: guā lóu
Gua lou (pericarpium trichosanthis) is a lung-benefiting herb that relieves respiratory problems. It is most effective when its skin has turned red.
Legend says its secret was learned by a woodcutter in a dream. Resting near a cave, the woodcutter heard two old men discussing gold melons in the cave, and the incantation to enter the cave.
The woodcutter awoke, recited the incantation, entered the cave and found the golden melons. He rushed home with the precious haul, but on reaching there discovered they were ordinary fruit.
The woodcutter returned to the cave and no sooner had he closed his eyes than he heard the two men talking again.
They said the melons were not real gold, but a precious herb is more valuable. Only a man with kind heart can use it, and it can help clear the lungs when its skin turns red under the sun, they said.
The woodcutter considered this a message from the gods and planted the melon in his garden. He dried the fruit in the sun, offering it free to treat coughs and naming it gua lou - melon herb.
Gua lou is a "cold" herb that travels through the lungs, stomach and large intestine meridians. Its root, fruit, peel and seeds all have medical use, dispelling pathogenic heat, relieving thirst and relieving coughing. Modern research has also found it effective in treating angina.
Prescriptions & Usage:
Gua lou soup
Make a decoction with 12g gua lou, 9g ginseng, 9g mai dong (lilyturf root), 9g di huang (radices rehmanniae), 6g liquorice, and 20 jujubes.
Divide the decoction into three portions, and take three times a day.
Benefits: Helps dispel pathogenic heat, treat thirst and move the bowels.
Gua lou cake
Remove the seeds from 200g gua lou.
Heat gently with 100g sugar and a little water to create a sweet filling.
Make small cakes with 600g flour. Fill the cakes with gua lou filling.
Steam or panbake these. Eat as snacks.
Benefits: Helps nourish the lungs.
Gua lou (pericarpium trichosanthis) is a lung-benefiting herb that relieves respiratory problems. It is most effective when its skin has turned red.
Legend says its secret was learned by a woodcutter in a dream. Resting near a cave, the woodcutter heard two old men discussing gold melons in the cave, and the incantation to enter the cave.
The woodcutter awoke, recited the incantation, entered the cave and found the golden melons. He rushed home with the precious haul, but on reaching there discovered they were ordinary fruit.
The woodcutter returned to the cave and no sooner had he closed his eyes than he heard the two men talking again.
They said the melons were not real gold, but a precious herb is more valuable. Only a man with kind heart can use it, and it can help clear the lungs when its skin turns red under the sun, they said.
The woodcutter considered this a message from the gods and planted the melon in his garden. He dried the fruit in the sun, offering it free to treat coughs and naming it gua lou - melon herb.
Gua lou is a "cold" herb that travels through the lungs, stomach and large intestine meridians. Its root, fruit, peel and seeds all have medical use, dispelling pathogenic heat, relieving thirst and relieving coughing. Modern research has also found it effective in treating angina.
Prescriptions & Usage:
Gua lou soup
Make a decoction with 12g gua lou, 9g ginseng, 9g mai dong (lilyturf root), 9g di huang (radices rehmanniae), 6g liquorice, and 20 jujubes.
Divide the decoction into three portions, and take three times a day.
Benefits: Helps dispel pathogenic heat, treat thirst and move the bowels.
Gua lou cake
Remove the seeds from 200g gua lou.
Heat gently with 100g sugar and a little water to create a sweet filling.
Make small cakes with 600g flour. Fill the cakes with gua lou filling.
Steam or panbake these. Eat as snacks.
Benefits: Helps nourish the lungs.
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