Astragalus and Monkey Head Mushroom Soup，From *Proven Tea, Decoction, and Soup Recipes for Common Ailments*,Aids digestion, benefits the five internal organs, tonifies the middle burner and boosts qi, nourishes the blood, and promotes fluid production. Suitable for peptic ulcers.
with a distinctly warm cast, the formula may aggravate dryness-heat; those prone to oral ulcers or constipation should be cautious; in the absence of frank deficiency, or where an excess or heat pattern prevails, indiscriminate warming tonic use is inadvisable; as a warming-tonic formula, it is not for those with excess heat, damp-heat, or unresolved exterior patterns
Commentary
The sovereign is astragalus, of slightly warm nature and sweet flavor, entering the Spleen, Lung; it tonifies qi, raises yang, secures the exterior and promotes the discharge of pus, anchoring the central strategy of the formula. The ministerial layer, monkey head mushroom (with neutral nature and sweet flavor, having Spleen, Stomach tropism, strengthens the spleen and stomach, tonifies deficiency, and aids digestion), and chicken (nature warm, flavor sweet, channeled into the Spleen, Stomach, warms the middle, tonifies qi, and replenishes essence and marrow), lends support that reinforces the sovereign’s main effect. Completing the formula, scallions, harmonizing the stomach and supporting dietary nourishment, and ginger, acting as the envoy to harmonize the various ingredients, so that potency is moderated and stomach qi protected. Together the herbs converge on this action, in accord with the spleen-stomach disharmony pattern.