The Soup Queen

This week I am going to talk about a Traditional Chinese Herb in the form of a root. We Cantonese call it “wai san” but it is also known as “shan yao ”. It is a root that is used in Traditional Chinese Medicine – dried white slices which are added to soups. It is also called Chinese yam, Japanese mountain yam and Korean yam ( Radix Dioscoreae Oppositae ) . The wai san that I usually know is in the form of dried slices which is not very tasty even though it has been boiled and simmered in soups. When I was in the wet market, I chanced upon the fresh version of wai san when I asked my vegetables-seller what this funny-looking root was. Here’s a little bit about this humble herb which actually is very good for the body. Wai san is an anti-ageing herb (that should be enough to get you scrambling to your nearest wet market in search of this root) and is particularly beneficial for the stomach, spleen and lungs. According to Alternative Healing http: //al ternativehealing.org/huai_...