Feeling under the weather? Try this Cure All Ginger Tea.
A few years ago, a friend and I flew out to Northern California to visit some Brussels sprout farms in San Mateo County (for a work assignment). We added a few extra days to the trip to spend a little time in Napa Valley and also sightsee around the city of San Francisco. As before any trip, I always research the local cuisine.
This led us to Dungeness Crab Louie Salads at Fisherman’s Wharf and authentic Dim Sum at Dragon Beaux. Towards the end of our trip I began to come down with terrible congestion in both my head and my chest. I am sure it had nothing to do with the unusual cold snap California was experiencing. However the congestion came to be, I refused to spend the rest of the trip in a hotel bed flipping through the in house tourist information channels.
Disclaimer: This post contains a Cure All Ginger Tea Recipe. I am not a doctor. I only claim that this tea helps me to feel better when I am sick.
Oakland is known to be the origin of the Ramen movement in the United States. We found what locals touted as the best Ramen shop in the city – a place off the main drag (College Street) called Ramen Shop.
By the time we were seated for dinner, my head was so congested I wasn’t confident I was going to make it through the meal. You know when your nose and ears are so clogged you can’t breathe and the room keeps spinning? That was me.
While my friend Lisa ordered herself a glass of wine, I ordered something called a “Cure All” off the menu. It was an magical concoction of lemon, ginger, honey, echinacea, chamomile, turmeric, hot water, and cinnamon. I sipped it slowly as we enjoyed an appetizer of glazed Brussels sprouts (pictured above). By the time our ramen noodle dishes arrived my head was fairly clear. I could breathe through my nose, and Lisa wasn’t having to shout at me to be heard through my choked ears.
I enjoyed what I consider to be the best ramen I have ever had in my life. (I had the classic shoyu ramen with pork, egg, and bok choy in case you were wondering, pictured above.)
The next day we were planning on jamming a whole lot of San Francisco into a few short hours. Fisherman’s Wharf, the Golden Gate bridge, walking the world’s crookedest street, sampling chocolate in Ghirardelli Square, and finding the best Dim Sum in the city. I kid you not, I woke up the next day clear headed and ready to go. I wasn’t congested at all for the remainder of the trip.
Was it the magical potion of the Cure All Elixir? I think so, and having a nice spicy bowl of Ramen probably helped too. However, I am not a doctor so I can’t know for sure what cured me. It could have been just the good night sleep I got. Who knows? However, since that trip, I have used a homemade Cure All Ginger Tea Recipe that I swear by for fixing what ails me.
I don’t use turmeric because the fresh yellow turmeric root is hard to find. However, if I do find it, I add two slices of turmeric root to the rest of the ingredients. Most of the time I just leave it out. The last thing I want to do when I am sick is run all over town looking for turmeric root.
Otherwise, the other ingredients should be super easy to find in any grocery store.
Cure All Ginger Tea Recipe
I am not a doctor, but I swear by this ginger tea when I am not feeling well.
Ingredients
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 star anise
- 3 inch chunk of unpeeled ginger root, sliced into big pieces
- juice of one lemon
- 2 chamomile tea bags
- 4 cups of filtered water
- 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp. honey
Instructions
- Add cinnamon sticks, anise, ginger, lemon juice, chamomile tea bags, and 4 cups of water to a saucepan.
- Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat, cover, and let steep for 15 minutes.
- Strain into a glass container and stir in apple cider vinegar and honey.
- Either enjoy warm or refrigerate up to a week and reheat as needed.
Try these other soothing non-alcoholic recipes from Beauty and the Beets:
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