藿香 (huòxiāng) · wrinkled giant hyssop (Agastache rugosa)

Meanings

1 wrinkled giant hyssop (Agastache rugosa)
2 a fragrant herb used in TCM and cooking

About the ingredient

蔬菜 Vegetables

A leafy herb of the mint family with a strong, distinctive scent. Chinese cooks add the fresh leaves to braised fish and meat and to cold dishes; Korean cooks put them in fish stews.

Characters

Examples

HSK 5

这道菜里加了一些藿香叶提味。

Zhè dào cài lǐ jiā le yìxiē huòxiāng yè tíwèi.

Some hyssop leaves were added to this dish to enhance the flavor.

HSK 7-9

夏天中暑了可以喝藿香正气水。

Xiàtiān zhòngshǔ le kěyǐ hē huòxiāng zhèngqì shuǐ.

If you get heatstroke in summer you can drink Huoxiang Zhengqi Water.

Tips

culture

藿香 is best known to Chinese learners through 藿香正气水 (huòxiāng zhèngqì shuǐ) - "Hyssop Restoring-Vigor Water" - a pungent herbal liquid sold in every pharmacy as the standard summer remedy for heatstroke, nausea, and humidity-related stomach trouble. The herb itself is also used in Sichuan and Guizhou cooking, especially with fish.