Chrysanthemum Soup/Soft Drink Recipe

This chrysanthemum soup or soft drink is great when you are feeling a bit under the weather. When you are having a nasty feeling in your throat or that you are having a cough, this helps you feel better and recover quicker. This drink has the ability to help clear your throat, enhance your skin elasticity, has vitamin C, and most importantly for my kids it tastes good. I make this drink sometimes not because I feel under the weather but just because it taste good too.


Ingredients:
1/4 cup of dried chrysanthemum
1 tbsp of honey
1/4 cup of rock sugar (more or less depending on your taste)
8 cups of water

Preparation:

Boil 8 cups of water in a pot.  Add all ingredients into the boiling water and let it boil for 15 minutes turn down the stove and let it cook for another half an hour on low.  Then serve cold or hot.

Dried Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemums, often called mums or chrysanths, are of the genus (Chrysanthemum) constituting approximately 30 species of perennial flowering plants in the family Asteraceae which is native to Asia and northeastern Europe.

Medicinal uses
Extracts of Chrysanthemum plants (stem and flower) have been shown to have a wide variety of potential medicinal properties, including anti-HIV-1,antibacterial and antimycotic.
(source wiki)

Author's Input:

I love chrysanthemum tea, it's great when I feel like my throat is getting raw or that a cough is going to develop.  To make my tea, I would boil eight cups of water, then add a small handful of these dried flowers, two slice of lemon, along with 1/4 cup of rock sugar.  My little babies love this tea too!  They love how beautiful it looks in a bowl.  

I use chrysanthemum broth to flavor some of my desserts. There is a frozen red bean pudding dessert that calls for this broth. I also add this to some sponge cakes and other treats.