Lotus seeds or lotus nuts come from the Nelumbo nucifera, a herbaceous perennial species of plant. They are also known as 'makhana' in India. Lotus flowers, roots and seeds have been held in high regard in the cultures of India, China and Japan for centuries. Its seeds are used in Asian cuisine and ...

Monk fruit or luo han guo (Siraitia grosvenorii) is a small green melon native to Southern China and Northern Thailand. It was apparently used by 13th-century Chinese monks in the area of Guangxi, China. It has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for treating respiratory irritations. It ...

Seitan (pronounced, “say-tan”) is a high protein food, usually made from wheat flour, spelt flour, khorasan wheat or gluten. It's made by washing flour dough with water until it leaves a sticky mass (gluten) that is then cooked. Seitan or wheat gluten originated in China as an ingredient for ...

White tea - what is it? It might sound like a milky cup of English Breakfast, but White Tea is actually a particular strain of green tea made from the Camellia sinensis plant, that gets its name from the ripeness of the leaves; picked just before they fully open, they are covered in tiny white ...

Miso (みそ or 味噌) is a traditional Japanese and Chinese fermented ingredient that has been used for centuries. Its paste is made by fermenting soybeans with koji (fungus) and salt (sometimes other ingredients like rice, millet and barley may be added). There are many different types of Miso mainly ...

Astragalus has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for a long time and is generally considered as a tonic and reinforce your 'Qi' (pron: 'chi', vital energy in Chinese medicine). It is also called Huang Qi or Milk Vetch. Sounding all Chinese to you so far? Then read on for our Top 5 ...

Oolong (in Chinese: 烏龍) tea originally came from the Chinese name (烏龍茶) which means "black dragon tea" and is a traditional Chinese tea (from the Camellia sinensis species of evergreen shrub). It is obtained from this same plant used to make green tea and black tea but is processed differently. It ...

Turkey tail mushrooms, named for their colourful, autumn-­‐like striped caps, are as healthful as they are aesthetically lovely. These little fungi have myriad health benefits, particularly surrounding the boosting of your immune system, so it’s little wonder they've been used in medicinal teas ...

Lion's mane mushroom, or the bearded hedgehog, is a medicinal, parasitic fungus found in North America, China, Japan and Europe. With the most common species being Hericium erinaceus, this mushroom comes under the 'nootropic' (i.e., smart drug and cognitive accelerator) group of foods having been ...

Another of the major league medicinal mushrooms, reishi or 'Ganoderma lucidum', is native to several regions across Asia, such as Korea, China and Japan and can currently be found growing on hardwood trees worldwide in tropical and subtropical climates. "Reishi" is the Japanese word for this ...