Chinese Herbs

[Rasher]

I have Chinese medicinal herbs in dried form & want to know if it is necessary to put the 'taels of lean meat' in with them to boil or will they be as effective without the meat. Also should the meat be cooked first? I know what weight is equal to a tael.

[alfiebrady]

Have you tasted these herbs before, and where did you get them from? I ask because you say, 'medicinal' - there are mixes of (I don't know how to describe them exactly) berries and nuts for use in soups, to which you would add say, belly pork. But you could also be referring to medicinal herbs to be brewed up and drunk which are notoriously bitter.

[Rasher]

My brother brought them back from China - each packet has various mixed herbs to aid mostly general well being, no specific or serious medical conditions. One of the packets didn't require the addition of meat & yes they did taste quite bitter when boiled. Would the addition of meat help this & what kind of lean meat specifically? Do you put the taels of meat raw into the pot to boil with the herbs for 3 hours or so?

[alfiebrady]

Sorry, hadn't twigged that you were talking about the directions on the packet. In any case, I shouldn't think it would make any difference to the efficacy of the brew if you a) added meat or not b) cooked the meat in advance or not.
That's not very helpful, I know, but all I can say is that cooking the meat in advance of boiling it again for another 3 hours isn't going to do much for the flavour. If its the bitter herbs I'm thinking of, there's not much I can suggest to improve the taste short of holding your nose, necking it as fast as you can, and washing it down with a whisky.
No idea what a tael is equivalent to.

[alfiebrady]

I said, 'cooking the meat in advance of boiling it again', didn't I - meaning, boiling it. Browning it would improve the flavour.