Here’s Peter’s recipe for his lemongrass, ginger & chili pepper cold cure:
Bring a quart of water to boil in a large saucepan; add the following ingredients and turn down the heat to a slow simmer:
Fresh ginger root (peeled and sliced thin). The more the better (about 1/4 cup or a good-sized chunk before slicing)
2 lemongrass stalks (stem and tip cut off and outside the first layer removed), sliced in half lengthwise and then cut into 3-inch long pieces.
1 small red chili pepper, sliced very thin
1 small green serrano chili pepper, sliced very thin
1 good shake of crushed red pepper flakes
Honey to taste and to balance the heat from the chili
2 tea bags of preferably lemongrass tea, but any black tea will do as well)
You can keep this on a low simmer for a long time; just add a bit more water as needed. Drink as desired throughout the day (you may find yourself becoming addicted to this hot spicy/sweet tonic).