How to cook Grass Jelly (Chinese Mesona)

Fresh Mesona

Dried Mesona ready to cook Grass Jelly

Ingredients

·        60 g  dried Chinese mesona  

·        2 L  water

·        90 g  rock sugar (or to taste)

·        1 tsp baking soda

·        60 g  sweet potato starch (can be substituted in equal amounts with cassava, arrowroot or corn starch or 7.5 tbsp gelatin powder)

·        60 mL  water (only to be mixed in with the starch. Not to be used for the gelatin powder)

 Instructions

1. Use scissors to cut the mesona into smaller segments, roughly 10cm (4") long.

2. Rinse the cut dried herbs with water 2-3 times or until there is no more dirt residue.

3. Pour 2 L of water into a pot and bring it to a boil. Add the mesona in with the baking powder, then let it simmer for 40 minutes.

4. Scoop out the dried herb and filter it through a large filter bag. Repeat for a second strain.

 Note: You can use anything similar to a muslin cloth or a coffee bag.

5. Once strained, pour it back into the pot and mix in the rock sugar until dissolved. You can serve it as a hot drink or with ice.

 Alternatively, stir the sweet potato starch with 60mL  of water until well combined, then slowly pour it into the herbal liquid as you stir. It will start to slowly thicken.

6. Transfer the grass jelly into a serving bowl or cup and enjoy it hot immediately as is!

 

Note: If you leave it to rest, it will begin to firm up more. You can also leave it in the fridge to eat cold.

Notes

·        Use sweet potato starch. This is the ideal ingredient for the QQ (al dente) texture.

·        Clean the dried herbs thoroughly. The cleaner it is, the smoother your dessert will be after it has firmed up.

     ·        Break the rock sugar into smaller pieces. Doing so will help it dissolve faster, but it also lets you add a bit at a time to control how sweet you want it as you taste test.

·      You can find dried mesona at Chinese medicinal stores. Just ask the herbalist for the herb that's used to make grass jelly.

·        The best starch to use when making grass jelly is sweet potato starch. Other starches will help to solidify the liquid over time, but will not produce the same QQ (Chinese al dente) texture.

·        If you're using gelatin, this will take the longest to set. Give it 3 hours minimum to firm up. Also note that the springiness will be on the crunchier side.

Serve your grass jelly hot as is, let it cool completely in the fridge and cube it into a sweet milky drink, add some taro and sweet potato balls on top or lay some chopped or sliced fruit over the jelly. 

如何烹制仙草

配料

• 60 克干仙草

• 2 升水

• 90 克冰糖（或适量）

• 1 茶匙小苏打

• 60 克红薯淀粉（可用等量的木薯淀粉、竹芋淀粉、玉米淀粉或 7.5 汤匙明胶粉代替）

• 60 毫升水（仅用于与淀粉混合，不可用于与明胶粉混合）

制作方法

1. 用剪刀将仙草剪成约 10 厘米长的小段。

2. 将切好的干仙草用水冲洗 2-3 次，直至没有污垢残留。

3. 倒入 2 升水将 ,水倒入锅中煮沸。加入仙草和泡打粉，小火慢      炖 40 分钟。

4. 舀出干仙草，用大滤袋过滤。重复此步骤进行第二次过滤。

注意：您可以使用任何类似平纹细布或咖啡袋的物品。

5. 过滤后，将其倒回锅中，加入冰糖搅拌至溶解。您可以直接作为热饮或加冰块饮用。

或者，将红薯淀粉和 60 毫升水搅拌均匀，然后慢慢倒入仙草汁中，边搅拌边搅拌。仙草汁会慢慢变稠。

6. 将仙草倒入碗或杯中，立即趁热享用！

注意：静置片刻后，仙草会变得更硬。您也可以将其放入冰箱冷藏。

注意事项

• 使用红薯淀粉。这是制作仙草的理想原料。 QQ（弹牙）口感。

• 彻底清洗干药材。清洗得越干净，凝固后的甜点口感就越顺滑。

• 将冰糖掰成小块。这样做不仅有助于其更快溶解，还能让您在品尝时一点一点地添加， 从而控制您想要的甜度。

• 您可以在中药店买到干仙草。只需向草药师询问用于制作仙草的药材即可。

• 制作仙草时最适合使用的淀粉是红薯淀粉。其他淀粉虽然有助于液体随着时间的推移而凝固，但不会产生相同的QQ（弹牙）口感。

• 如果您使用明胶，则凝固所需的时间最长。至少需要3个小时才能凝固。还要注意，明胶的弹性会更脆。

• 趁热享用仙草，将其放入冰箱完全冷却后，切成方块，制成甜点牛奶饮料，上面放一些芋头和红薯球，或者在果冻上放一些切碎或切片的水果。