Tshuaj Ntsuab (Plant Medicine): A Compendium of Hmong Medicinal Plants

Blending traditional knowledge and Western science, this collection of family stories, healing recipes, and profiles of plants common in Minnesota celebrates age-old wisdom and cutting-edge research.

During early years in Laos, May Lee trained as a niam tshuaj, a plant-based healer and keeper of herbal plants, a role customarily handed down from mother to eldest daughter. When she fled to Thailand and then the United States in 1980, May brought preserved cuttings, which she eventually cultivated in Minnesota. She passed along her knowledge to daughters Zongxee and Mhonpaj, who likewise became herbalists and farmers.

Among other traditional uses, Hmong medicinal herbs are essential ingredients in a special chicken soup consumed for postpartum healing. In Tshuaj Ntsuab (green medicine), a recipe for this nourishing soup accompanies descriptions of additional cultural practices, herbal remedies, and growing techniques that are part of Hmong oral tradition. Through detailed photographs, botanical information, and scientific research, this compendium profiles forty-four medicinal plants that are important to the culture and diets of Hmong people around the world.

Tshuaj Ntsuab grew out of a five-year collaboration between the Lee family, University of Minnesota Extension, and Dr. Ya Yang’s laboratory at the University of Minnesota. The team used DNA sequencing to identify each of the herbs and reviewed published works to better understand what scientists know about these plants. The result is a valuable reference that preserves traditional knowledge for members of the Hmong community and beyond.