Ginseng Tea (Insam Cha in Korean)

It is nearly winter. The season has changed quite suddenly in Korea. Due to the sudden change Michael (my husband) got sick again. His sickness is kind of a seasonal event I need to go through, lucky I am not as weak as him.

I bought some ginseng to make some tea for him and it seem to work well.

Ginseng is quite expensive even in Korea, I bought 2 roots of ginseng – 106 g for 6,360 won (US $6.70) It was 6000 won per 100g.

Ginseng’s main benefits are

1. Improving the immune system.
2. Relaxing the nervous system.
3. Recovering strength.

Ingredients

• Ginseng 50g (I used fresh ginseng)
• 5 Chinese dates
• Water 2.5 L (Apparently you need 500ml of water per every 10g of ginseng, so you can adjust it yourself)
• Honey 1 tsp (per 1 cup of tea)

Steps

1. Rinse the ginseng, scrub the dirt with a cloth as needed.
2. Rinse the Chinese dates.
3. Put the water into the pot or kettle. Add the ginseng and Chinese dates.

4. Boil it on low heat. (About 20-25 minutes)

How to serve (This is how I serve this tea, perhaps different than other people)

1. Put the honey in the cup.
2. Scoop or pour the boiled water in.
3. Hold the ginseng with tongs and cut the ginseng and Chinese dates with scissors. (I cut 3 small pieces of ginseng and 1/2 a Chinese date for 1 cup of tea, so you can make about 10 cups of tea)
4. Stir it with a tea spoon and drink it. (You can feel that your body is warming up within 1 minute.)

Since I boiled 2.5 L of tea, I reboiled several times to finish it up. (It gave me about 10 cups of tea total)

By the way, ginseng isn’t good for everyone. People who have warm character body type according to “Sasang constitutional medicine” need to be more careful. I am one of those people, so I don’t have ginseng. So I recommend you consult with a herbal (oriental) doctor first before you take ginseng.

Related Posts

Chinese Dates (Daechu in Korean)

Ginger Tea (Saenggang Cha in Korean)

An Introduction to Sasang Constitutional Medicine (Hardcover)
-Il-byung Song

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