White Radish and Chen Pi Water

Why people make this drink

When a family member faces surgery that requires general anaesthesia, many readers in Nourilo’s community prepare a flask of this simple radish and chen pi water to bring to the hospital. In Nourilo’s own experience with a relative’s operation, the patient drank a large thermos of this water as soon as she was allowed fluids — and urinated freely not long after, which is traditionally understood to signal that the anaesthetic is moving out of the body. By contrast, a neighbour in the same ward who had not drunk it struggled for some time before she could urinate at all.

This is, in Nourilo’s words, an extremely easy drink to prepare in advance and bring along. The key is to sip it slowly and steadily, in small mouthfuls, and to drink as much as you comfortably can.

Method

1. Wash and peel the daikon radish, then cut into rough chunks.
2. Soak the chen pi in cool water until soft (about 10 minutes), then cut into strips.
3. Place both ingredients into a pot with 1.8 L of water.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a medium simmer for 30 minutes, until the liquid has reduced to about 900 ml.
5. Remove from heat. Pour into a thermos if taking to hospital, or serve warm at home.

Nourilo’s Tips

• Sip in small mouthfuls, and drink as much as you can — this is what encourages the bladder to become active and release urine. Large continuous gulps have more of a bowel-moving effect.
• The drink can be prepared the night before surgery and stored for up to 2 days.
• If white daikon is unavailable (as reported by a reader in the UK), Nourilo suggests a substitute: half a fresh lemon, sliced, simmered with a small amount of brown sugar in water for 5 minutes — sip slowly in the same way.
• Green daikon (qing luo bo) can also be used if white daikon is not available.
• Drink at room temperature. Do not chill.