Excerpt from book...
'Fu Ling has always been regarded as a nourishing food well-liked by people. It is old Empress Dowager Ci Xi's favourite snack.
According to legend, Ci Xi suffered from weak health and a poor appetite. The imperial chefs racked their brains to selet medicial herbs that helped to invigorate the spleen and promote appetite. They found out about the uses of poria. Hence, they used pine nuts, peach kernel, sweet osmanthus flower and honey as the main ingredients, and mixed with an appropriate amount of poria powder. Ci Xi was very pleased with the recipe and would offer poria pastry as a form of reward for court officials. Thus, poria cake become a popular imperial pastry. '
That's how fu ling became popular.
Uses of fu ling
- Drains dampness and reduces swelling.
- Promotes urination
- Relieves phlegm
Quality Herb
The good one is heavy, hard and compact, sticky, with a white fine core; the outer skin is brown, with striattions but no fissures.
