🥣 How is jelly made? Let us take you into the world of black jelly!

✨ Preface: A must-have refreshing dessert for summer

Hey everyone~ When it comes to summer, the first dessert that comes to mind is jelly ! ❄️
The black, shimmering jelly has a smooth, chewy texture. Whether eaten alone or paired with sugar syrup, coconut milk, lemon tea, or even shaved ice, it's a favorite summertime treat for people in Hong Kong and South China. So, the question is: **How ​​is jelly made? **🤔

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🌿 Raw materials for jelly

Soul Source: Agar-agar Grass

Jelly mainly comes from a plant called Mesona chinensis (scientific name: Mesona chinensis ).
This plant belongs to the Lamiaceae family. After the stems and leaves are dried and boiled, they can release natural gelatin to form the base of jelly. 🌱

Other ingredients

• Starch or rice flour : helps solidify and make the jelly more shaped.
• Water💧 : The medium for cooking agar-agar grass in large quantities.
• A small amount of lime water or alkaline water⚗️: It is often used in traditional methods to help the jelly solidify.
• Sugar : Often added to sweeten the flavor.

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🔥 The production process of jelly

Step 1: Cleaning and Soaking

First, clean the dried jelly grass to remove dust and impurities, then soak it in clean water for a while to soften it.

Step 2: Cook for a long time

Place the herb in a large pot, add plenty of water, and simmer over medium or high heat for several hours.
During this process, the jelly grass will release colloid, and the water will slowly turn dark black with a light herbal aroma. 🌿🍵

Step 3: Filter out impurities

The cooked jelly grass soup will contain a lot of residue and needs to be filtered with a cloth bag or filter cloth, leaving behind a pure black colloidal liquid.

Step 4: Add starch or alkaline water

In order to solidify the jelly, you must add an appropriate amount of starch slurry or alkaline water to the hot jelly liquid. This step is very critical. If the proportion is not right, the jelly will become too hard or too thin. ⚖️

Step 5: Cooling and forming

Pour the evenly mixed jelly liquid into a basin or bowl and let it cool naturally. The liquid will slowly solidify into a shiny black jelly. At this time, the jelly feels slippery to the touch and is crystal clear when cut.

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🍧 How to eat jelly

Jelly itself has a light herbal aroma and a light taste, so it is often paired with different ingredients:

• Sugar syrup jelly: The most traditional way to eat it, add sugar syrup or sugar slices, it is sweet and thirst-quenching.
• Lemon jelly🍋 : Chop the jelly into small pieces, add lemon juice and sugar, it is sour, sweet and refreshing.
• Coconut milk jelly🥥 : Add coconut milk or milk to make it smooth and fragrant.
• Shaved ice jelly❄️ : A must-have in summer. Add shaved ice and fruit and it instantly transforms into a Hong Kong-style ice cream.

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🌏 Regional culture of jelly

• Guangdong and Hong Kong: Commonly found in dessert shops, a must-try in the summer.
• In Taiwan , it is called "Cao Xian" (Grass Jelly). There are two ways to eat it: "Cao Xian Jelly" and "Burned Grass Jelly". You can eat it iced in the summer and hot in the winter.
• Southeast Asia🌏: Grass jelly drinks are also very popular in Singapore, Malaysia and other places.

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💡 Editor's Summary

I think the beauty of jelly is not only its taste and refreshing feeling, but also the natural wisdom behind it. 🌱
From a seemingly insignificant plant to a bowl of slippery, icy dessert, this transformation relies on traditional craftsmanship and the combination of ingredients. Jelly is not only a summertime treat, but also a classic that carries the essence of Chinese culinary culture.

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🎤 Let me tell you

👉 Do you prefer traditional sugar jelly or Taiwanese-style "grass jelly"? Leave a comment and let me know~📩