1. The medicine pot must be cleaned thoroughly.
When boiling Chinese herbs, the herbal juice becomes concentrated due to evaporation, resulting in a layer of residue at the bottom and around the pot. If the herbs in the pot are frequently changed without promptly wiping away the accumulated residue, the residue will dissolve and interfere with, reduce the efficacy of the medicine, and even delay the recovery. Especially if highly toxic herbs or external use-only medicines have been boiled before, it may cause poisoning.
In addition, if the pot is not cleaned promptly after each boiling, the residue at the bottom of the pot will accumulate and thicken, making it easy to burn and lose the efficacy of the medicine when boiling again.
2. Whether to cover the pot depends on the herbs being used.
Generally speaking, it is better to cover the pot when boiling Chinese herbs to ensure thorough boiling. Especially for herbs with volatile components, such as peppermint, patchouli, and perilla leaves, and when they need to be boiled quickly to prevent the loss of active ingredients. Certain valuable herbs, such as ginseng, deer antler, and goji berries, need to have their active ingredients fully released.
Some Chinese herbs have a light weight but a large volume, such as moneywort, common clubmoss, Chinese knotweed, luffa vine, and corn silk. It is not suitable to cover the pot when boiling these herbs, as they often overflow. For these herbs, the pot should be left uncovered and stirred constantly.
3. The herbs must be thoroughly boiled and dried.
"Thorough boiling" means fully releasing the active ingredients of the herbs, which is a basic requirement for boiling herbs. For herbs with a tough texture that is difficult to release the active ingredients in a short time, it is necessary to boil them separately, pre-boil them, or boil them for a long time to make the herbal juice thick and fully exert the medicinal effects. For herbs with a loose texture and light flavor, there is no need to boil them for a long time. However, for light-weight and large-volume herbs, they should be stirred frequently to ensure thorough boiling.
