Recipe from the Herbal Pharmacy: Pickled Burdock Root for Spring Health

Burdock root is a beautiful spring food that is both nutritive and detoxifying. In TCM, we use Burdock seeds, Niu Bang Zi, to vent early stage cold and flu from the body and treat sore throats. The root, able to penetrate more deeply into the body, cleans the blood and vents out deeper held toxins and impurities.

In springtime, the bodies’ energy is moving up and out from the deep yin storage time of winter. Just like plants, our energy is now moving upwards and outwards to create new growth. When this happens, we can see pathogenic energy that was hidden in winter come to the surface along with it. This could look like a replay of old illnesses, old emotions, or old fears and thoughts….
Burdock root encourages the healthy resolution of this venting process. It goes into the deeper level of the blood and organs to vent toxicities out of the body. Thus, the movement of burdock in the body is similar to the movement of Spring energy, and provides a healthy “blueprint” of Spring to our bodies.

Pickled Burdock Root

Ingredients:

3 Burdock Roots, peeled and sliced thin
4 slices Fresh ginger
3 cloves chopped Garlic
Soy Sauce
Apple Cider Vinegar

Put the burdock root in a little water (just cover it) and bring to a boil. Simmer about 2-3 minutes. Remove the roots from the water. Save the liquid.
Pour the cooking water into a clean mason jar, and and the rest of the ingredients. ½ of the jar should be water, ¼ soy sauce, and ¼ apple cider vinegar.
Seal the jar and put in the refrigerator. It will be ready to consume in about 2 weeks.