Black Sesame Seed

The glossy black seeds of Sesamum indicum, black variety, are at once a fundamental food of Asian cookery and a plant of the orthodox pharmacopoeia.

Harvested at full maturity when the capsules split open, dried and sorted, they concentrate their wealth of precious oils and minerals.

In TCM, the colour black is the visual signature of the plants the tradition reads under the Water Phase and the Essence.

To be distinguished from white sesame, which usage reads otherwise, turned rather towards moistening the downward movement.

The reference food-herb for enriching the Yin and the Blood, and of the register of the Essence (Jing), which the tradition ties to the colour black.

Particularly valued for constitutions of deficient Yin, marked by dryness and by a loss of the sheen and natural hue that the tradition ties to the Essence (Jing). Also to moisten the dried descending movement.

• Everyday cooking: toast the seeds in a pan for a few minutes, then grind them in a mortar — scatter over rice, congee, vegetables and salads
• Decoction: 9 to 30 g, simmer for 20 minutes (ground beforehand so the matter is released)
• Hei Zhi Ma Hu: the traditional black sesame paste cooked with brown sugar and water, a Chinese dessert of the supplementing register
• Cold-pressed oil: used in cooking for its deep fragrance and its moistening character

A herb approachable by the most delicate constitutions. To be used in moderation in cases of already very loose stools from deficient Yang (it moistens).