One of my friend is a “Tea lover” and I got this unique tea from her, namely “Pang Xue Jiao” or Crabs legs in Chinese, it has vivid name, as the shape looks likely to crabs legs, that’s how the name come from. That’s amazing to me.
According to my friend it’s quite an expensive tea with some medicinal properties. It’s a kind of parasitic plant of Pu’er Tea Tree that absorbs flavor and nutrients from the ancient old tea tree, one thing that still makes me wonder every "Pang Xie Jiao or crabs legs" grew steadily on the tea tree, it belongs to sickness tree, it is to say it only grew on sickness tea tree, and could find on those than more than few hundred years old tea tree.
What is Pang Xie Jiao or Crabs Legs (Articulatum Burmanum)
Pang Xie Jiao Tea, scientific name as Articulatum Burmanum. Its nature is “cool”, this is an excellent cooling tea that can be taken hot or cold. Taste with the fragrance of an aftertaste of fresh sweetness in flavor and some astringency, It is thirst-slaking “cooling and refreshing” tea.
Its vegetative cycle approximately 3-4 years, it derives nutrients from the old tea tree, because of "Pang Xie Jiao or Crabs Legs" is rare and exceptional difficulty in picking. The fresh Pang Xie Jiao (Articulatum Burmanum) appearance is color in green but after picking and seasoning, it turns yellowish brown in color. Because its growth is extremely slow, and after picking seasons, due to the quantity scarce and market price stays at a high level.
Pang Xie Jiao (Articulatum Burmanum) has contain many kinds of organic matters and the nutritional value is quite high according to some tea experts or professional, its medicinal purposes that uses in sterilizing to treats gastric disease, diabetes, may also prevent the Angiosclerosis (hardening of the walls of the blood vessels), relieve fatigue, and improve immunity system. And believed regular intake of Pang Xie Jiao or Articulatum Burmanum with pu’er tea to invigorate the spleen and inhibit “dampness” and detoxification effect. Helps reduce and clear liver heat in the stomach and descends Qi.
How to take this tea?
It can be taken solely as tea, or best steeped with Pu’er tea, takes two to three small branch of Pang Xie Jiao, puts in the tea pot brew with pu’er tea and it taste wonderful, after soaking the remaining pang xie jiao is to chew it and edible, do not waste!
As far as I know drinking pu’er tea is purported to reduce cholesterol. Most important it also helps in weight lost as well. Pang Xie Jiao adds Pu'er tea, it has medicinal function which governs the belly or stomach and it also has anti-tumor function. According to my friend and what I feel about "Pang Xie Jiao" or "Crabs legs tea" is a nutritious tea, perhaps it is a pathological change and parasitic plant from Pu’er Tea, it is good or beneficial to certain person’s physique body, and it may disadvantageous to some. This question I leave it to the Tea expert or Professional.
As told by my friend is to add a chicken and cook together with this "Pang Xie Jiao" and "Puer Tea" as chicken soup, mainly the Catechins in this chicken soup which is tasty, it has the astringency qualities and is a nutritious healthy recipe thought.
