Green mandarin pu'er tea with hawthorn
A green-mandarin pu'er tea brewed with a few slices of dried hawthorn — citrusy and lightly tart, a cup or two after meals helps cut through rich winter food.
- 12 min
- Serves 2
- Brew
- Easy
Why it suits you: Phlegm-damp types who eat plenty of Chinese sausage and claypot rice at Minor Cold often feel bloated and heavy. Ripe pu'er is warming and cuts grease, green mandarin moves qi and resolves phlegm, and hawthorn aids digestion — a cup or two after meals helps, with no sugar needed.
Method
Prep 2 min · Cook 10 min- 1Put the mandarin pu'er, hawthorn and tangerine peel in a teapot, pour over boiling water and discard it straight away to rinse the tea.
- 2Refill with boiling water, leave for 5 minutes, then pour and drink.
- 3Top up and brew 3–4 more times until the tea turns weak.
Cautions
- Pu'er contains caffeine, so go easy later in the day if you sleep poorly or have palpitations; hawthorn is sour, so drink less with excess stomach acid or in pregnancy.
Chef's tips
- Tear the green mandarin half open before brewing so the citrus and tea infuse faster.
The TCM view
Ripe pu'er is sweet, bitter and warm, aiding digestion, cutting grease and warming the stomach; green mandarin peel is bitter, pungent and warm, moving stagnant qi and dispersing food stagnation; hawthorn is sour, sweet and slightly warm, aiding digestion; tangerine peel moves qi and dries damp. Together they resolve damp and stagnation.
