Herbal cuisine is a combination of food and medicine and has a history of thousand of years old. It is very popular in China and India and many dishes are so common that most of us are not aware they are a kind of herbal cuisine.
In China, one explanation of its origin is that in gathering food in the wild, the ancient Chinese found that some plants could be prepared as food as well as being used to cure disease. These special plants with the combined nature of food and medicine are seen as the basis for herbal cuisine. According to historical records, the first professional chef of herbal cuisine appeared in the Chinese emperor's palace over 1,000 years ago. While traditional Chinese medicine uses more than 5,000 kinds of herbs, only 108 herbs are permitted to be used.
The commonly used herbs include ginseng(人参

, wolfberry (枸杞子

, danggui/angelica sinensis (当归

, astragalus (黄耆

, cinnamon (桂枝

and cinnamon bark (肉桂

, ginger (姜

, hoelen/fuling (茯苓

, licorice/ganchao (甘草

, peony (white: 白芍, báisháo and reddish: 赤芍, chìsháo), white/black fungus, etc as well food which has certain medical or nutritional functions like bamboo shoots, asparagus, pumpkin even tofu (bean curd)...
Sharing the following series of side-dishes taken in a chinese herbal cuisine restaurant in Vivo.
Pumpkin Butter Beancurd: