Cooking Chinese herbs is easy. But it does take some time. Many people like to take the time to cook herbs as it gives them an opportunity to take part in their healing process.
Ceramic pot for cooking Chinese Herbs
It is good to get a Chinese herbal pot. You can buy a 
for under $10 or you can use an 
, which costs about $50-80.
If you cannot find a ceramic pot use glass or pyrex.
I would recommend against stainless steel because I have seen it become stained from herbs. Also, metals may interact with the properties of the herbs.
Cooking Instructions for Chinese herbs:
1. Place one packet or bag of the herbs in the herb pot. cover with 2 cups of water. Bring to boil, cook for 20 minutes.
2. After 20 minutes, remove the liquid. Save the herbs in the pot.
3. Fill pot again with 2 cups of water. Cook again for 30 minutes.
c4. Combine liquid from batch 1 with batch 2. Drink half in the morning and half in evening about 30 minutes to an hour after eating.
Cooking times may vary depending upon the particular instructions from your acupuncturist or herbalist. For example, for herbs for colds, you may cook it for a shorter period of time. But if you are using strong herbs to boost the energy in the body, you may cook it for a longer period of time.
Sometimes you cook certain herbs for a longer time in the beginning, or you may add herbs very close to the end of the cooking process. This helps to accentuate specific properties of each herb.
photo:
Cooking Chinese herbs is easy. But it does take some time. Many people like to take the time to cook herbs as it gives them an opportunity to take part in their healing process.
Ceramic pot for cooking Chinese Herbs
It is good to get a Chinese herbal pot. You can buy a
for under $10 or you can use an 
, which costs about $50-80.
If you cannot find a ceramic pot use glass or pyrex.
I would recommend against stainless steel because I have seen it become stained from herbs. Also, metals may interact with the properties of the herbs.
Cooking Instructions for Chinese herbs:
1. Place one packet or bag of the herbs in the herb pot. cover with 2 cups of water. Bring to boil, cook for 20 minutes.
2. After 20 minutes, remove the liquid. Save the herbs in the pot.
3. Fill pot again with 2 cups of water. Cook again for 30 minutes.
c4. Combine liquid from batch 1 with batch 2. Drink half in the morning and half in evening about 30 minutes to an hour after eating.
Cooking times may vary depending upon the particular instructions from your acupuncturist or herbalist. For example, for herbs for colds, you may cook it for a shorter period of time. But if you are using strong herbs to boost the energy in the body, you may cook it for a longer period of time.
Sometimes you cook certain herbs for a longer time in the beginning, or you may add herbs very close to the end of the cooking process. This helps to accentuate specific properties of each herb.
photo: