Lotus or Ou jie comes from Asia, and is used quite often in all sorts of cooking. In TCM is is recommended for its benefits for the blood.

In TCM the Lotus root is a detoxifying plant: it works to disperse the excessive Heat that is in the Lungs and stomach and so it drains out the toxicities from the body. In addition this plant can also stop the bleeding and it prevents the appearance of blood stasis.