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Thursday 13 November 2014

White Fungus And Health Benefits

The white fungus looks white or pale yellow. It is commonly sold in dried form.

It is also sometimes referred to as snow fungus or white wood ear fungus.

It is prized for boosting the immunity of the lungs.

The white fungus is very suitable for healing dry cough, dry throat, dry skin and also constipation.

It is typically served in a soup as a dessert but it can be taken anytime of the day.

Suggested Recipe For White Fungus Soup

A handful of dried white fungus (about 50 grams)
1 liter of water
10 dried seedless dates (optional)
A tablespoon of dried wolf-berries (optional)
A tablespoon of cooked ginko nuts (optional)
1 tablespoon of rock sugar

Method

Soak the dried white fungus in water for about 1 hour.
The fungus will grow double in size and turn semi-transparent.

Trim out the hard part in the middle and cut the rest into small bits.


Put all the ingredients in a pot.
Bring the water to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.

The soup is ready to serve.


An 8 minute video on cooking white fungus with pear and date.

White fungus soup contains plenty of health and beauty benefits. It not only cures cough but is also said to be anti-inflammatory as well. The addition of pear in the soup provides benefit such as micronutrients which are important for cardiovascular health.




White fungus is often used in Asian soups and drinks due to its health properties. It is also known as snow fungus and is often cooked together with a sweet fruit and made into desserts. The nutrients from the snow fungus is equivalent to that of the expensive ingredient, bird's nest. Just like bird's nest, white fungus has anti-ageing properties as it contains collagen. One can definitely call it the poor man's bird's nest because snow fungus is so much cheaper yet nutritious. Instead of using apple to boil this soup, I am using the Korean pear or also known as Nashi pear to prepare this dessert. Korean pears have plenty health benefits too. Hence, this white fungus soup is a definite health booster as it detoxifies, dissolves mucus, treats constipation, heals sore throat and relieves cough. It is also a thirst quencher at the same time. In fact, this soup also helps to boost the immune system, according to traditional Chinese medicine practitioners.