Herbs that Tonify Blood

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What special cooking instruction should be followed when preparing E Jiao (asini corii colla) in decoction?

Use only in food therapy
Crush before decocting
Boil 30-60 minutes longer than the rest of the decoction
Melt into the strained decoction after cooking

E Jiao is gelatin. If you cook it with the rest of the herbs, it will stick to the other herbs, or sink to the bottom and burn. Melt it in at the end after you have strained out the other herbs.

Source: Bensky, D. (2004). Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica. Seattle, WA: Eastland Press. p. 758 [Q110]