All warm inside

Tomato and papaya hotpot at Yi Jia Ren restaurant in Beijing. [Photo provided to China Daily]

As you read this, Chinese chefs somewhere are preparing tubers of Gastrodia elata for a healthy, warming soup. The rhizomes of this leafless orchid (tian ma in Chinese) are valued in traditional medicine for treating headache, stress and fatigue－and traditionally for convulsions such as epilepsy.

In nature, the elusive plant depends on a parasitic relationship with two different fungi to grow. That perplexed ancient Chinese gatherers who struggled unsuccessfully to cultivate it; they ultimately gave up, declaring it to be a gift from God. In the 1960s, Chinese researchers in Yunnan and Beijing decoded the plant's interactions with fungi, leading to modern cultivation.

Legend says the healing powers of another traditional Chinese medicine, Cordyceps sinensis, were recognized more than 1,500 years ago in the mountains of Tibet. Yak herders noticed that even their oldest beasts had an extra spring in their steps when they munched on this "grass". Five centuries later, Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) emperors were fascinated by the fungi's power as an aphrodisiac, and commanded imperial physicians to study the dong chong xia cao ("winter-worm, summer grass") and develop its potential uses.

Since then, these botanical oddballs have become more utilitarian. Prized in China, Russia, Korea and Japan as both food and medicine, gastrodia is commonly cooked in soups, usually with chicken or duck. Combining it with cordyceps, home cooks and five-star hotel chefs produce hearty broths designed to boost energy and vigor in winter months.