- Region
- Asia
- Origin
- East Asia, especially China
Asia · Food · № 661
Allium fistulosum
Food · Asia
Green onion (cong bai)
Allium fistulosum
Traditionally attributed effects: diaphoretic at the start of a cold from cold; externally on swellings.
Safety notes
Not with spontaneous sweating. Traditional use is no proof of effectiveness; if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking medication or have a medical condition, consult a doctor or pharmacist.
Preparation
White stem base. Usually as a decoction, together with other herbs.
Use in traditions
Described in the classical Chinese materia medica, in the group 'herbs that open the surface'. The white lower part (cong bai) is eaten in a hot soup with ginger at the start of a cold with chills in order to sweat; it is part of Cong Chi Tang. Spring onion is a staple vegetable throughout East Asia.
Applications
Use by tradition
How different herbal traditions describe this herb. Amounts are traditional guidelines checked for obvious errors; they are not medical advice. For poisonous plants no dosage is given on purpose.
Chinese materia medica
- Nature and taste
- pungent, warm
- Meridians
- lung, stomach
Attributed effects
The white of the spring onion (cong bai) opens the surface at the very start of a cold from cold, warms the meridians in abdominal and nasal pain from cold and is applied externally to abscesses.
Preparation and amount
Traditional dosage: 3–9 g a day, added only at the end. Rice porridge with spring onion: cook glutinous rice to a porridge, stir in finely chopped spring onion, bring briefly to the boil and eat warm on an empty stomach to sweat.
Combinations
- With gua lou to loosen phlegm in the chest
- Ways to prepare herbs
- Decoction