Premium Raw Chinese Herbs, Whole and Traceable
Raw Chinese herbs are whole dried roots, berries, barks, fungi and fruits that you simmer into a decoction or cook into food. Nothing is powdered, encapsulated or extracted. This collection holds around 30 of the herbs used most often in Chinese home cooking and traditional formulas, each sourced from vetted growers and lab tested before packing.
What's In This Collection
The selection covers the herbs a Chinese kitchen actually keeps on hand, not an exhaustive pharmacy list:
- Tonifying roots — American ginseng (Xi Yang Shen), astragalus (Huang Qi), codonopsis (Dang Shen), Chinese yam (Shan Yao), processed rehmannia (Shu Di Huang), white peony (Bai Shao).
- Blood and fruit — angelica sinensis (Dang Gui), goji berries (Gouqi Zi), red dates or jujube (Hong Zao), longan fruit, candied honey dates (Mi Zao).
- Cooling and moistening — baby chrysanthemum (Tai Ju), lily bulb (Bai He), dried Asian pear (Xue Li Gan), polygonatum (Yu Zhu), sea coconut (Hai Di Ye), white lotus seed (Lian Zi).
- Warming and aromatic — dried ginger (Gan Jiang), Sichuan lovage (Chuan Xiong), prickly ash (Sichuan pepper), processed black ginger.
- Everyday kitchen staples — licorice root (Gan Cao), poria mushroom, monk fruit (Luo Han Guo), hibiscus, dried fox nut (Qian Shi), almonds (Bei Xing and Nan Xing).
How Do You Use Raw Chinese Herbs?
Two ways, and most households do both. As a decoction, you simmer the herbs in water for 60 to 120 minutes and drink the liquid. As food, you add them straight to a pot of soup, congee or braised meat, which is how the majority of these herbs are consumed in Chinese homes — goji berries and red dates go into chicken soup the way bay leaves go into stock.
If you would rather not build your own formula, our herbal broth and tea mixes are the same whole herbs already portioned into balanced blends by a licensed herbalist.
How We Source and Test
Raw herbs are the category where sourcing matters most, because you are consuming the whole plant material rather than a filtered extract. We buy directly from established suppliers rather than commodity brokers, and every batch is tested for heavy metals, pesticides and sulfur — sulfur dioxide is widely used to bleach and preserve dried herbs in the commodity trade, and it is one of the first things we screen for.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I make a Chinese herbal decoction?
Soak the herbs in cold water for 20 to 30 minutes, bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer for 45 to 90 minutes depending on the herbs. Strain and drink the liquid. Dense roots and barks simmer longest; flowers and leaves are added in the last 5 to 10 minutes so their aromatic compounds are not cooked off.
How should I store raw herbs?
Keep them sealed in a cool, dark, dry place. Unlike tinctures, raw herbs gradually lose aromatic potency — most are best used within 12 months. Berries and fruits like goji and longan can be refrigerated in humid climates to prevent clumping.
Are these herbs organic?
Not all carry organic certification, which is uncommon in traditional Chinese herb supply chains. What we do instead is test every batch for heavy metals, pesticide residue and sulfur, and publish sourcing that traces to specific suppliers rather than open commodity markets.
Can I cook with these instead of making tea?
Yes, and traditionally that is the main use. Astragalus, codonopsis, Chinese yam, goji, red dates and longan are all standard soup ingredients. Add them to the pot with your protein and simmer as you normally would.
How much should I use?
It depends on the herb and on why you are using it. A rough starting point for soup is 15 to 30 grams of combined herbs per pot serving four. For a therapeutic decoction, dosage should come from a practitioner — contact our team if you want a recommendation.
Why Shop root + spring
root + spring was founded to make authentic Chinese herbal medicine approachable for people who did not grow up with it, and reliable for people who did. Our selection is curated by a licensed acupuncturist and herbalist, herbs are sourced directly from established suppliers, and every batch is lab tested before packing. Orders over $99 ship free within the United States.
New to cooking with Chinese herbs? The root + spring journal has recipes and ingredient guides, and our herbal tinctures offer the same herbs in a ready-to-take form.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
