Tsao-ko

A stuffed, heavy epigastrium with a thick greasy white tongue coat, no thirst, and nausea that eases with warm aromatic food

Alternating chills and fever with a heavy body, chest oppression and sticky mouth, in a damp climate

Chronic loose stool and poor appetite in someone who lives on cold foods and feels cold and bloated

Overview. Cao guo is the dried ripe fruit of Amomum tsao-ko, a large clumping ginger of the family Zingiberaceae grown in the humid mountain forests of Yunnan, Guangxi and northern Vietnam. Plants of the World Online now places the species in a separate genus as Lanxangia tsao-ko, but the pharmacopoeial name is still Amomum tsao-ko. The oval, ribbed, brownish fruit is smoky and intensely aromatic; it is a famous spice in Sichuan and Vietnamese cooking, and in Chinese medicine it is a strong drier of dampness that warms the middle and, with other herbs, treats the alternating chills and fever of damp-turbid malarial disorders.

Clinical Notes. Cao guo is the aromatic to choose when dampness is heavy and cold, and gentler herbs like sha ren (Amomum villosum) or bai dou kou have not been enough. The tongue coat is thick, greasy and white, the abdomen is stuffed, appetite is poor and there is nausea without thirst.

Chinese Medicine Profile. Temperature: warm. Taste: acrid. Channels: Spleen, Stomach. Actions: Dries dampness and warms the middle burner; Dispels cold and disperses turbid damp obstruction; Checks malarial disorders with alternating chills and fever; Reduces food stagnation and relieves epigastric distension.