OK, is it sad I just had to look up the spelling for "expectorant"?
Anyhow, I was having a conversation with my mother on the topic of Chinese medicine today over brunch, and since she is infinitely more knowledgeable of medicinal qualities in various foods, AND I was making all of the other diners extremely uncomfortable with my wet hacking cough, I asked her about some Chinese remedies.
Here's a short list I compiled off of the top of my head from our conversation:
Daikon radish - brings phlegm up and out
Jellyfish - disintegrates mucus, or rather, thins it out
Asian pears - aides in reducing cough
Rock sugar - soothes the throat
Loquats - helps with reducing cough, and soothes throat irritations (there's an herbal cough syrup that's been around for years called "pi pa gao", it looks like black tar, but actually tastes like a minty molasses, I used to try to trick my mother to feed me the stuff even when I wasn't sick--operative word here being "try")
So, I'm poaching an Asian pear tonight with some rock sugar for dessert. Apparently, that should help with the cough and is a natural expectorant, but I am slowly coming to the conclusion that I may need to see a doctor to get rid of the infection. I certainly don't want this to develop into walking pneumonia or bronchitis.
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