What are the steps for decoction of Chinese medicine? Traditional Chinese medicine is extensive and profound. I believe that most people have the memory of drinking Chinese medicine to treat diseases, but do you know how to decoct Chinese medicine? The following will teach you the whole process of decoction of Chinese medicine. It will be introduced to you in three stages.
Before cooking
Cleaning? There is generally no need to clean before cooking. If there is sediment in the herbal medicine, rinse it quickly with water. Avoid soaking to avoid losing some water-soluble components.
Soaking? Soak the medicinal materials in cold water for about half an hour before decoction. This can make the water-soluble components dissolve in the soup and increase the concentration of the medicinal materials.
Decoction
Using water? It is better to soak the surface of the medicinal materials by 2~3cm with water, or gently press the medicinal materials with your hands so that the water surface just covers the back of your hand. Usually, some herbs and flowers absorb a large amount of water. After soaking for half an hour, the water level drops. You can add additional cold water to the standard water level and then start decoction.
How to use fire? Generally speaking, traditional Chinese medicine should be boiled with strong fire first, and then changed to slow fire after boiling. However, some traditional Chinese medicines for treating exogenous diseases can be boiled and then decoctioned over fire for about 15 minutes.
Time? For general Chinese medicine, the first decoction should be 20 to 25 minutes, and the second decoction should be 15 to 20 minutes. Frying should take 30 to 40 minutes, and second frying should take 25 to 30 minutes.
Re-decoction? After decoction of a dose of Chinese medicine twice, the active ingredients contained in it have been greatly reduced, so it is better to decoct it twice. But nourishing Chinese medicine can be boiled three times. Some prescriptions with larger dosages can also be decoctioned three times.
After decoction
Strain immediately. After the medicinal soup is decoctioned, it should be filtered and poured out while it is hot. It is not advisable to leave it in the pot for a long time. Otherwise, the medicinal solution containing too much colloid will gel as the temperature drops, making it difficult to filter, affecting the efficacy of the medicinal solution, and also easily causing rancidity.
Decoction device
The best crock pot and casserole are traditional crock pots and casseroles. Enamel and stainless steel are also acceptable. Avoid using aluminum pots, iron pots and copper pots. pot to prevent metal utensils from reacting with the medicine, affecting the efficacy of the medicine or even causing harm to the human body.
Reminder: Pay attention to frying first and then adding it down
The purpose of "decocting first" is usually to increase the solubility of certain drugs or reduce the toxicity of the drug; while "decocting" later, This is to reduce the loss of volatile oil and prevent the active ingredients from being destroyed.
Usually minerals, such as shellfish and hornbeans, must be fried first to help extract their active ingredients due to their hard texture. For example, gypsum, cassia, turtle shell, turtle shell, etc. can be broken into pieces and fried for 30 minutes, and then other medicinal materials can be added to cook together; while some toxic medicines, such as aconite, aconite, pokeweed, etc., must be fried for 1 to 2 minutes first. hours to achieve the effect of attenuating or detoxifying. In addition, some botanicals, such as tianzhuhuang, hemp seeds, dendrobium, etc., also need to be fried for 10 to 30 minutes before they can be effective.
The medicines to be taken later include those with fragrant smell and high volatile oil content, such as mint, patchouli, cardamom, amomum villosum and some medicines that are not suitable for long-term decoction, such as uncaria and almond, etc., which should be added to the decoction. Add to pan 5 to 10 minutes before frying.
During the process of decoction of traditional Chinese medicine, if you accidentally dry out the concoction, you must not add water and re-cook it. Repeated decoction will destroy the nature of the medicine, and the condition will worsen after taking it, so you should throw it away. ?