Grass Jelly

Ingredients

Decoction

• 100 gdried grass jelly herb
• 2.5 litreswater
• ½ tspbicarbonate of soda

Setting

• 40 gtapioca or sweet potato starch
• 100 mlcold water

To serve

• sugar syrup
• evaporated milk or coconut milk
• crushed ice

Directions

1. Rinse the dried herb in several changes of water, rubbing it between your hands, until the water runs clear of grit.
2. Wash it properly. It is dried whole plant, stalks and all, and it arrives with a real amount of field dust in it.
3. Put it in a large pot with the water and the bicarbonate of soda.
4. The bicarbonate is not optional. It raises the pH, which is what draws the gelling polysaccharide out of the leaves; without it the liquid stays thin and never sets.
5. Bring to the boil and simmer, covered, for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, until the liquid is black and noticeably viscous.
6. Strain it through a sieve, pressing the herb hard, then strain it again through cloth.
7. Return the liquid to the pot and bring it back to a simmer.
8. Slake the starch in the cold water, then whisk it into the pot a little at a time and cook for 3 to 5 minutes until it thickens slightly.
9. Add the slurry gradually and keep whisking. Poured in all at once it seizes into strings that never disperse.
10. Pour into a shallow tray or into bowls, let it cool, then chill for 3 hours until firmly set.
11. Cut it into cubes, or scrape it into ribbons with the edge of a spoon.
12. Serve cold with sugar syrup and crushed ice, or with evaporated or coconut milk poured over.
13. For the winter version, do not set it at all: keep it as a thick black soup, sweeten it, and serve it steaming.
14. The plant is grown mainly in Hsinchu and Miaoli, and the hot version is drunk in winter as often as the cold one is eaten in summer.

Technique

• The taste is faintly medicinal and a little bitter, and that is the point rather than a fault.
• Instant grass jelly powder is sold everywhere and cuts this to ten minutes; the texture is close and the flavour flatter.
• More starch gives firmer cubes that hold up in a drink; less gives a softer jelly for eating with a spoon.

Substitutions

• Instant grass jelly powder, made up to the packet directions.
• A little agar with the starch for a firmer, cleaner set.

Variations

• With taro balls and sweet potato balls, as in a Taiwanese dessert bowl.
• Cubed into milk tea.
• Hot and thick, as shao xian cha.

History

Made from Platostoma palustre, grown mainly in Hsinchu and Miaoli, and drunk hot in winter as a cooling remedy.

Frequently asked questions

What is Grass Jelly?

Grass Jelly is a dessert from Taiwan: herb jelly served iced with syrup or hot as a thick sweet soup. Made from Platostoma palustre, grown mainly in Hsinchu and Miaoli, and drunk hot in winter as a cooling remedy.

How long does Grass Jelly take to make?

Grass Jelly takes 15 min plus 3 hr chilling of preparation and 2 hr of cooking. The recipe makes about 2 litres of jelly. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Grass Jelly?

Yes, within limits. Instant grass jelly powder, made up to the packet directions. A little agar with the starch for a firmer, cleaner set.

What is the most important thing to get right in Grass Jelly?

The bicarbonate is not optional. It raises the pH, which is what draws the gelling polysaccharide out of the leaves; without it the liquid stays thin and never sets.