Summer is here and with it come the sleepless nights of rolling around in bed searching for a sweat-free spot. Of course, fans and air conditioners are at hand but they bring a whole other set of problems such as dry, sore throats in the morning and incessant buzzing that might make it even harder to nod off.

They say summer colds are the worst kind, and taking standard medicine with all the drowsiness they can cause is no good in this already delirium-inducing heat.

Now, we don’t promise this to be a cure (it’s a common cold, after all!), but for those suffering from summer sniffles and phlegm we humbly recommend a simple recipe using all natural ingredients: honey, daikon, and just a pinch of patience.

As far as recipes go, it doesn’t get much easier than this. In fact, screw the pencil and paper. Just take a quick glance and you’ll probably have this committed to memory.

Ingredients
■ Daikon radish
■ Honey

How to make
1 – Cut the daikon into 0.5 to 1 cm cubes
2 – Put the cut daikon in a container and cover evenly with honey
3 – Cover with a lid and leave at room temperature
4 – Catch up on your correspondence
5 – Clean that area between your fridge and wall
6 – After 3 hours, open the lid and smile in satisfaction at a job well done

Note that steps 4 and 5 may be substituted for any number of chores or activities such as working on your ship in a bottle or learning how to say “I love you” in sign language.

More importantly, note that honey can be pricey and there is no need for you to completely submerge the daikon in it. Even if there are whole chunks of radish sticking out, you should be okay in the end.

After the three hours the moisture from the daikon will have seeped out and merged with the honey creating a super syrupy elixir of efficacy. Studies have suggested that honey is effective at soothing throat inflammation, while daikon is also said to have antibacterial properties.

When it’s ready, serving options are flexible. You can just dig right in with a spoon or dilute with a little hot water in a cup. Just remember if you want to save some for later, remove the daikon pieces from the container before storing in the fridge.

Again, we can’t guarantee this will cure everyone’s cold, but it’s at least going to give your body plenty of nutrients and soothe your throat. And at the very least it’ll help cure some people’s chronic fear of making something in the kitchen.

Original article by P.K. Sunjun
Photos: RocketNews24

▼ It depends on the size of your container but a 3cm thick puck of daikon should do it.

▼ If you want it done quickly, keeping at room temperature is best. But it will work in the fridge as well if you’re in no rush.

▼ You can see we didn’t use that much honey.

▼ But after three hours the daikon will have filled the rest up nicely!

▼ If you want to save some for later, just take out the daikon and keep in the fridge.

[ Read in Japanese ]