Lai Fu Zi, the seed of the garden radish

Lai Fu Zi is the radish seed, no more and no less: Lai Fu is the old name for radish, the one used in the classical texts, and Zi means seed. It is one of the most familiar substances in the Chinese pharmacopoeia, a garden vegetable grown in China for millennia, already present in the Book of Songs. Grown throughout the country, the radish has no reference terroir; its seeds are threshed in summer, when the pods are fully ripe. A good seed is plump, heavy for its size, reddish-brown, and shows oily cotyledons when broken. Not to be confused with Fu Zi, aconite root: the two names share only sounds.

Undoing what stalls after meals

In traditional Chinese medicine, radish seed is neutral, pungent and sweet in flavour: pungency disperses and sets things in motion, sweetness supports. It undoes without harshness, because its sweetness spares the Spleen while its pungency dislodges what stagnates. Associated with the Lung, Spleen and Stomach, its primary action is to dissipate food accumulation: when what has been eaten stalls in the Middle, the Qi no longer passes and fullness sets in. Tradition considers it particularly appropriate for grains and flour-based foods, where hawthorn excels with meat and fat: the two come together in Bao He Wan.

Raw it rises, roasted it descends

With this seed, preparation reverses the direction of the action. Raw, its movement is upward and can unsettle the stomach; dry-fried in a wok until it swells slightly, darkens and becomes fragrant, it keeps only the downward movement, gentler and better tolerated. This is the reference form. It then makes the Qi descend, dissolves Phlegm and clears the chest. Zhang Xichun was careful to point out that it is a substance that transforms the Qi, not one that breaks it, and that it moves without exhausting. To get anything out of it in a decoction, the seeds are crushed before cooking.

Key benefits

Easy digestion & meals that pass

Traditionally used when food stalls in the Middle, radish seed contributes to good digestion.

Lightness & comfort after meals

Its pungency undoes the fullness that sets in when grains and flour-based foods linger, and brings lightness and comfort after meals.

Qi in motion & a clear chest

It supports the circulation of Qi and makes it descend, without exhausting it, according to Chinese tradition.