“Nice to meet you, Kapok!” partners with the 57-year-old Hing Cheong Medicine Store in Fuk Loi Estate, Tsuen Wan, to make Chinese herbal Five Flower Tea and talk about kapok’s therapeutic effect of natural detoxification.

Five-flower tea is an herbal tea whose recipe has a very long history. The tea is a must-have for people of all ages in summer. Served cold with iced sugar, the tea is a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) remedy for summer dampness.

We interviewed Mr Lai, the owner of Hing Cheong Medicine Store (興昌大藥行) which operated in Fuk Loi Estate (福來邨) for 57 years as he was preparing his five-flower tea. He recalled how he made his first five-flower tea during his first camping trip when he was studying secondary school. In one evening, he brought the ingredients to the barbecue stove and prepared his five-flower tea as a remedy for summer sickness.

Mr Lai also recalled his visits to Mills 2 and 6 of Nan Fung Cotton Mills many years ago. Back then, the factories would order first-aid supplies from the pharmacies regularly. He would push carts of goods from Hoi Pa Street to Pak Tin Par Street. What he still fondly remembered was the concrete staircase painted in green.

In addition to five-flower tea, Mr Lai also introduced a recipe made from kapok flowers – a congee for removing dampness. (Refer to the programme booklet for details.)

There are five or six ingredients of five-flower tea, namely:

1. Kapok flowers
2. Virgate wormwood (茵陳)
3. Kudzu flowers (葛花)
4. Frangipanis (雞蛋花)
5. Chrysanthemums (菊花)
6. Japanese honeysuckles (金銀花)

How to prepare:

1. Rinse to remove the dust on the ingredients.
2. Add 7-8 bowls of tap water into the pot.
3. Pour the ingredients into the pot. Turn the stove to medium-high.
4. When the water boils, turn the heat down to medium heat. Heat the tea for 20-25 minutes.
5. Add slab sugar (optional).