Cardamom (bai dou kou)

Cardamom (bai dou kou)

Cardamom is a common English name for Fructus Amomi Tsao-ko (pharmaceutical name). In Chinese, it is called bai dou kou and written as 白豆蔻. It is commonly planted at Vietnam, Yunan, Guizhou, Guangdong, Guangxi, Taiwan, Malaysia and some other South East Asia countries.

Cardamom grows as a perennial herb with thick, fleshy rhizomes or underground stems shooting leafy roots and with leafy stems. It has very large leaves, white or pale green three-celled flowers, many-seeded pale green to yellow fruits and triangular brownish-black seeds.

The dried cardamom fruits of the plant constitute the drug. They have a pleasant aroma with a characteristic, slightly pungent taste. They leave a warm feeling in the mouth. It is the seeds, taken out from the fruits, which produce the warm sensation.
 

It has acrid taste, and it is aromatic and warm. It is good for treating stomach pain, flatulence, belching, indigestion, vomiting, malarial disorders, and hang over from alcohol consumption. Nowadays, it is pretty common to use cardamom in cooking or making juice. One simple way of making cardamom juice is to crush the cardamom and simmer it with water for 20 minutes together with 1 or 2 sour plums. And then add some sugar (according to you taste). You can drink it hot or cold.

Some people add in cardamom into their cooking such as curry due to its aromatic smell.

More Chinese Herbs