At first glance, anyone who didn’t grow up in an Asian culture might scrunch up her nose at herbal jelly. It’s black, it’s shiny, and it jiggles. But really, herbal jelly, or grass jelly, is like JELL-O, only naturally colored. Whole Foods is losing a big opportunity to market this as the next “it” health food.
Maybe it’s the fact that it takes the shape of the tin can it comes from, that may turn people off. If, as a culture, Americans have moved past canned cranberry sauce, we might not be too thrilled with something similarly ridged but not candy-colored. Although grass jelly is made from an herb in the mint family, the taste is pretty neutral. Which is why Asians love it in desserts. In Hong Kong cafés and dessert shops serve grass jelly with mangoes, coconut, and other tropical produce. At bubble tea shops like Saint Alp’s you can opt for little grass jelly bits instead of tapioca pearls.
In Hong Kong and southern China, you can find also tortoise jelly in tea shops with big gold or silver pots. Called gwei ling go in Cantonese, the genuine stuff is made from powdered tortoise shell and can get be as expensive as 300 HK dollars (about $38) for a rice bowl’s worth. Don’t worry, PETA members: imitation tortoise jelly is much more common and usually costs $1 or less. It’s made from different herb than grass jelly, but tastes pretty much the same.
What’s the appeal of all this stuff? Both real and imitation tortoise jelly (and grass jelly to a lesser extent) supposedly has cooling properties, and can get rid of a bad cough faster than you can say Robitussen. And you know what? It works! Try it: the next time you’re in Hong Kong and sick, try getting eating a bowl of herbal jelly for 2 to 3 days. (Ah, you’ll say. Chinese medicine does work.) Or pick up a can of grass jelly when you’re in Chinatown.
My favorite way to eat grass jelly as a child was to cut it up to bite-sized pieces and mix it with a boatload of granulated sugar. Now if I was to sip instead of slurp, I’ll mix the black squiggles with coconut juice, sweetened condensed milk, and ice for a refreshing if slightly unorthodox drink.
Are you a fan of herbal jelly and have a favorite way of eating it?
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I love cutting into cubes and adding sugar as well. I was a big fan of the green jelly and eating that plain.
ai-yu (the yellow one) jelly, canned lychee, ice and some light soda like (7-up, sprite, or ginger ale) makes a great party refresher and the kids love it!
My favorite is eating it cut into cubes with simple syrup. My grandma would always make it for me during hot Virginia summers. If I was sick I would eat it warm but nothing feels as good as eating a bowl of grass jelly with simple syrup to cool you down on a muggy summer night.
I love this stuff! I didn’t know it worked for coughs though – thanks for this information.
I love eating grass jelly! The way my family and I eat it is just to simply dice it and add a can of longan or lychee, juice and all. Such a refreshing snack, but I didn’t know it was actually good for you too. It’s great in iced coffee too! Though your way sounds awesome too.
I love grass jelly! I like it with some tropical fruit, beans and a splash of coconut milk. The other day, I just had some straight out of the can after a bike ride in the heat. It was so refreshing!
We always kept a can in the fridge, so it would be be cold and ready. We ate it with a simple syrup made from the dark brown slabs of sugar (peen tong in Cantonese). SO GOOD!
Come to think of it, I always think of it as a summertime dessert too. Maybe it’s because we pair it with tropical fruit. And I can’t imagine eating the stuff without first chilling it in the fridge.
Michelle – And in iced milk tea. :)
This reminds me of the drink seller at my primary school canteen. He sold iced grass jelly drink amongst other things to students like us. One day, I saw him preparing and cutting a big block of grass jelly. He must have seen my quizzical look. He looked at me, flashed me a big grin, gave the grass jelly a tight slap and while it jiggles, said the following…black man’s bottom (in mandarin).
I thought he was serious. Well, I was 7.
Took me a while to put it back on my menu again. When I do, it is in traditional iced grass jelly drink.
I love herbal jelly! But haven’t had a lot of it in recent years… when I was younger we used to buy it (and I was allowed to tip it out from the can and cut it into cubes) and my mom would make a simple syrup with sugar, water and a couple slices of ginger. Mmmm…
I love grass jelly. I like the canned grass jelly drink, as a topping in shaved ice, in milk teas, etc. I had no idea about the cough thing though. That is interesting info, thanks!
You’re right; I feel that those who have not grown up infused in Asian culture have missed out on this awesome treat. My mom used to serve it the same way: cubed with lots and lots of sugar. I loved to drink the juice (yes, sugar water).
This entry has gotten me thinking of another Asian treat. I don’t know what it is… I remember calling them tadpole eggs. Any clue? Their small seed-like, translucent with a black kind-of-cruchy middle.
My mom used to buy them fresh from this lady in the market. It’s so good and refreshing. Cut up cubes with a simple syrup with hint of pandan leaves is the best. Light and refreshing.
Ahh! Grass jelly is amazing!
I remember when i was younger, my mom use to make a red bean soup, chill it, and then add grass jelly. AMAZING!!
When I was a kid I didn’t really like aiyubing or grass jelly, but last summer I went back to Taiwan on an internship, and while out shopping with my grandmother, she decided to buy a block each. Later that afternoon, she showed me how to cut the jelly into cubes and added some honey.
I was hooked for the rest of my stay. When I went to Japan in July, I tried to see if they had fresh grass jelly, but alas, only canned. It’s not bad, but once you’ve had the stuff fresh, it’s not the same anymore.
Too bad I’m up here in the Midwest and can’t find fresh jelly. Sigh.
jacky – I don’t think I’ve heard of tadpole eggs. The closest thing I can thing of tapioca or sago, which are small and translucent, but they don’t have a crunchy middle…
Jess – I’ll trade you fresh grass jelly for fresh strawberries and asparagus. :)
I think you may be thinking of basil seeds? You soak the dried seeds and they swell up, with a clear coating around a black center…
I <3 grass jelly with vanilla ice cream!
And because of it’s cooling properties it’s great for curing tooth aches and canker sores too.
I used to use simple syrup, but got tired of making it every time. So then I move on to just sprinkling granulated sugar on top. If I am being extra super lazy then I use maple syrup (real stuff not aunt Jemima’s).
The best is ginger infused simple syrup.
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my fave drink is jasmine milk tea w? grass jelly…..yum
Those frog eggs looking things are basil seeds. I love that drink too. I used to describe it the same way until I found out what it really was.
The black jelly bean AKA black licorice AKA the one I always toss out if I can help it b/c I don’t like the flavor.
For some reason there always seems to be about 4 or 5 of these in a pack of jelly beans. And here I was in a multi-flavor popping frenzy (usually I eat them one at a time) and every few handfuls or so I’d get the black jelly bean.
Then a philosophical question arose: the fine people at Jelly Belly must know what they are doing, right?
I mean after all, they produce many flavors from Agricultural of jelly bean (have you ever seen the Harry Potter ones, including booger, vomit, and fish?) and the black jelly bean is always included. There must be some people who actually like the flavor – my mother-in-law does come to think of it. These thoughts brought me into further contemplation about a book I started reading called.
those are the seeds from a basil plant. I discovered it by accident. I know it sounds weird, but it is. The seeds expand in hot water and become “tadpole eggs”
What do they put to gelatinize the jelly? Is it gelatin? I’m trying to find ingredients for herbal jelly but no one seems to know or care…
Funny, growing up in America I shunned it (turtle what?!? grass what?!!) for the mainstream ice cream, cakes, etc. Now that I’m an adult, I look for it. Comfort food all the way. Somehow it feels way healthier too.
Anyone ever eat it piping hot? A little red bean, some peanuts, taro, and hot, still fairly gelatinous grass jelly really hits the spot on a cold winter night.
with milk C: I used to eat it with syrup/ honey but milk adds this slightly salty taste which is really addictive!
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