My sore throat is slowly turning into an itchy dry cough. As you can imagine, that's pretty painful, with the sore throat still lingering. When I'm sick, I think of my mom and how she used to chase me with those horrid Chinese herbal remedies. But, whenever I had a cough, I was standing in front of her displaying my symptoms, because I wanted one of her two cough remedies.

The first being this thick black syrupy substance called, Chuan Bei Pi Pa Gao. It's sweet, a bit fruity, and a little minty. It's delicious and extremely effective for reducing phlegm and coughing. Sometimes, my cousins and I would fake a cough to get a spoonful of this stuff. Unfortunately, I don't have any on hand.

The other remedy is a poached Bosc pear (my mom says Bosc works best). Just peel, split in half, and core. Simmer in about 1 1/2 cups water with a 1 1/2" cube of rock sugar, until the liquid is a little syrupy. It will take about 30 minutes. Eat the pear and drink the liquid warm. There's no scientific proof that this remedy works but I think it does. At the very least, it's a nice bedtime dessert.