Witnessed by: TCM
Dried mussel (Mytilus coruscus), of the Mytilidae (Bivalvia) family. The marine mussel, moored by its byssal threads to rock and pier in dense tidal beds; native range: the rocky tidal coasts of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea — Liaoning, Shandong, Zhejiang, Fujian. Globally recognized as dan cai (淡菜), hai hong (海紅) in Chinese, and dried mussel, sea mussel in English. The part used is the dried flesh (not the shell). Shrunken oval flesh the colour of dark amber, hard and horny when dry, the fringe of the mantle still visible; sweetly briny, and swelling plump and tender when soaked.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
DRIED MUSSEL
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- dried mussel
- Scientific name
- Mytilus coruscus Gould, 1861
- Family
- Mytilidae (Bivalvia)
Form
- Part used
- the dried flesh (not the shell)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sweet (甘) · salty (咸)
Temperature
- TCM
- warm (温)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Liver · Kidney
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- tonifies the liver and kidney, boosts essence and blood, and quiets ascendant yang
Cautions
- Contraindications
- damp-heat and phlegm-damp patterns, where the rich warm flesh is cloying
- Toxicity
- low toxicity as a food; the ordinary shellfish cautions apply — spoilage, allergy, and the toxins mussels concentrate from red tides
This is the card. Sign in for the full four-tradition entry — the aligned TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani reading, actions, dosing and cautions.