Grass Jelly is a popular jelly based dessert enjoyed in most of the Southeast Asian countries. This dessert is normally sold in attractive packets, jars or cans. Grass jelly is prepared from the herb chin chow grass, where the herb is known to have cooling properties; this is the reason why this dessert is not offered to kids suffering from cold. The jelly drink is either sold in cans or is sized in bites and added to the fruits or ice cream.
Grass Jelly Recipe- Suggested Ingredients and Preparation Process
According to regular recipe, the chow grass or Mesona Chinesis is boiled for long time along with starch and cooled off till a jelly form is attained. The jelly is normally prepared into long strands, sweetened by sugar syrup and then churned into a refreshing drink. These jellies have slightly bitter taste, mild flavor of iodine lavender, and black color.
Grass Jelly Recipe- Variations
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Vietnam: Here the jelly is used to add flavor to desserts prepared from different kinds of beans. The two common types of grass jellies include Mesona sinesis Benth and Tiliacora Triandra.
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China: In China, this dessert is normally teamed with sugar syrup and typical Chinese grass jelly recipe suggests combining the square shaped jellies with fruits like mango, watermelon, cantaloupe or evaporated milk or fresh canned fruits.
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Thailand: The typical Thai recipe is known as chao kuai. It is normally served with natural brown sugar and ice, and accompanied with various kinds of fruits such as toddy palm, jackfruit, etc.
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Indonesia: Unlike the other recipe variations, the Indonesian grass jelly is prepared by boiling instant powder. The powder is derived from the leaves of plant called Mesona Palustris.
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Malaysia and Singapore: There are no specific green jelly recipes in the region, only the simple grass jelly is added to the desserts like cendol and ice kacang for bringing desired effect. The jelly is normally combined with the soy milk to make a white liquid with black strands and this liquid is humorously known as the Michael Jackson (a potshot at singers’ cosmetic surgery).