Ginseng tea

Ginseng is fundamental to western culture but it also dates back to its roots. Not only do we use it for its benefits such as medicine but also have some cultural aspect to it as well.

It dates back 5,000 years ago to when emperor Shen Nung ruled. He was known as the father of Chinese medicine. He tasted hundred of thousand of herbs and one of which was the ginseng root. When he was chewing on the root he claim it gave him more strength and a warm feeling and tested this on other people too.

There is a Chinese tale where a villager keeps waking up to a strange cry coming from the ground. When he went to the crying it came from a bush. Burying it out from a bush lies a man shaped root. The villager remembers that there was a war on this land. In some way, the ginseng root represents the pass-away soldier that fought on that ground.

Now we use it for most medical uses. When I got sick such as a cold, one of my favorite thing to drink was ginseng chicken soup. It has the same remedy as to a chicken noodle soup. Both arguably have health benefits to getting rid of the sickness.

Ginseng chicken soup                     Chicken noodle soup