My Favourite Grass

The Americans have Jell-O, here in Asia, we grow up eating grass jelly. At first sight, the jelly is rather sinister looking. It is a black, slimy blob, does not look palatable at all. The jelly has a mild herbal taste since it is made from boiling a Chinese herb commonly known in Singapore and other parts of Asia as chin chow.

I have always thought that the herb used to make grass jelly is, well, a grass. Why call it GRASS jelly and chin CHOW (grass in hokkian) if it is not some kind of grass! Turns out, the Chin Chow herb, latin name, mesona chinensis, is a plant from the mint family. Yes, it is a leaf, not a grass.

Chin Chow is a herb considered to have what the Chinese call cooling properties, as kids we were forbidden from eating grass jelly if we were coughing as eating it will worsen the cough. The jelly is grated into long strands, sweetened with sugar syrup and made into a refreshing drink. The drink is also canned and easily found in shops within and outside of Asia. Otherwise, it is cut into bite sized cubes, sweetened and added to shaved ice and fruits.

You can make your own grass jelly but here in Singapore, nobody really make their own anymore as the jelly is so readily available in markets and cheap costing less than S$2 for a small rectangular block. I like to cut grass jelly into cubes and drizzle lots of honey. It makes for a refeshing dessert especially after eating hot and spicy dishes like curry.

Comments

[pinkcocoa]

hi hi ST
I havent had grass jelly for a long long time. Your post reminds me that I simply have to grab a can of this the next time i go shopping!

I haven't seen the brand and pack of chin-chow before. It looks like it's from a pack? I have only had canned grass jelly.

[ST]

Hi pinkcocoa, welcome to my blog. The chin chow is packaged and sold like the tofu pack. I am not too particular about the chin chow brand as they all taste the same to me, I just buy whatever is available at the market.

[pake]

Liked your article and the picture. In California we can get grass jelly in cans. My parents cooked up some for me 50+ years ago. Had it only once as a child. We weren't allowed to eat anything cold or sweet. Is there a difference in the canned stuff versus the 'tofu' style? I'm comparing with now versus what I think I had 50 years ago.
I have 1/2 a can left in the refig. I'll go finish that off right now. The wife bought 4 cans because it was on sale at Ranch 99.

[tweety]

I haven't had grass jelly for at least 4.5yrs.. boy..!! i miss it..!!

[ST]

Hi pake, thanks and welcome to my blog. When you say canned stuff do you mean canned grass jelly drinks? The strands of grass jelly in the canned drinks are grated from the big blocks of grass jelly,so they are the same.

Hi tweety, grass jelly is one of those food I missed when I am abroad too.

[Lina]

Hi,
Your article is so interesting.
Do you have the recipe for making 'Grass Jelly'. I've read somewhere, the leong foon/chin chow grass is boiled with water and potassium carbonate. How much of these are needed, for, say, 200 g of leaves?
Thanks a lot.

[ST]

Hi Lina, I am so embarrassed. Despite eating grass jelly all my life, I have never made them myself. I did manage to find a recipe if you are interested. Here's the link
http://food.asia1.com.sg/recipes/des_20000530_001.shtml
I think there is some error in the ingredient list though, "Black Jelly" seems to be a typo as there is no mention of it in the method and the recipe is about making "black jelly" aka grass jelly. I hope this helps.

[Silvia]

Mmmm, I love grass jelly. My mom used to make thin strips using a potato peeler and we would sprinkle sugar over it. I will admit it's an acquired taste. I offered it at a Chinese new years party and one of my (non-asian) friend's kids promptly spit it out into her hand when she tasted it.

What made me think of grass jelly is that I'm drinking a cup of Numi brand Red Mellow Bush tea (made from rooibos or aspalatus linearis) for the first time and the smell and taste remind me of grass jelly.

[Chad Brandos]

I had an experience with a grass jelly drink a few weeks ago, and it was not too pleasant.

Before trying the drink, I knew absolutely nothing about it, but I'm always up for new experiences. I thought it was too sweet. The texture of the gelatain threw me off, too. It definitely had an aquired taste.

[J]

Appreciate your article on grass jelly. I remember my mother making it on hot summer days, then chilling it, cutting up in cubes and sprinkling it with sugar or pouring syrup over the cubes. I would like the traditional recipe--can someone help? The can and powdered versions are not the same.

[gg]

Hi to everyones out there....I'm so surprised that I've came across the above article...And, the packaging that ST posted above...I'm working at the above Factory before...If, you're keen to know about New products from the Factory, Please email me at the above address...I'll be glad to help within my knowleage..

[Leah]

Does anyone know where I can purchase the grass jelly drink online? My fillipino friend introduced me to it and I LOVE it, but I can't seem to find it anywhere here in New Mexico. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Melissa]

Hi,
I'm very interested in knowing how to make my own chin chow. That's I want to buy the leave and boil it myself.
Do you know whether in singapore the chinese medical shops sell them. How about potassium ??? that need to be added. Also is there any supply of prepacked chin chow available in the shops. I found some sold in Perth coming from Indonesia.

[lorac]

where do you but grass jelly in new jersey??

[FF>>]

Grass jelly is popular in Thailand too, as a child i remember eating it without ice but nowaday it always come with ice. The canned things has just happened a few years ago.
This may sound silly but friends( many persons ) of a friend who live in Shanghai keep telling that chinese grass jelly is made from turtle, can anyone confirm or deny ?

[ST]

Hi Melissa, yes you can get the chin chow leaves from Chinese Medicinal shops in Singapore. The recipe I have does not use potassium. I have stayed in Perth and I remember getting prepacked chin chow from the asian supermarkets.

Hi lorac, I am located in Singapore but from my experience staying abroad, you should be able to get them in shops selling Asian food stuff.

Hi FF>>, what your friend is talking about is turtle jelly which is made stewing the turtle shell. They are similar in texture but turtle jelly is bitter and have a strong medicinal smell. I am guessing your friend may have been cheated because dishonest shops have been known to pass off grass jelly as turtle jelly which is much more expensive.

[Melissa]

Hi,
I remember there is another type of jelly that is being sold in the dessert shops - yellow like agar agar and serve with lime and ice. Do you call it ice jelly.
I also wonder whether I can get the ingredients from the chinese medical shops in singapore. Is it from leaves. It's getting more and more expensive to eat this dessert and I suppose the stall holders are also adding in agar agar to disguise it.

[ST]

Hi Melissa, if I am not wrong, the jelly is made from plain agar agar strands. If you are in Singapore, you can also get it ready made from supermarkets too. Now most of the dessert shops don't make their own jelly anyway. If you are overseas, look for the ready made ones from Taiwan called 爱玉.If not, konnyaku will be a good substitute.

[FF>>]

Hi ST, Thanks for your kind answer.
Could you pls tell me more about the turtle jelly? Is it food or dessert? Does it comes with ice? and how much does it cost?

[Melissa]

Thanks ST. But the 'ice jelly' which I was talking about is not from plain agar agar strands. It tastes different and has a very cooling effect. In cantonese it is called 'wan tao long'.

[Melissa]

Hi ST. For lunch today, I've iced jelly. When I asked the stall operator whether he used agar agar for that, he says it is not agar agar and I also asked him where he got his supply from. He recommended me Phoon Huat. The shop is just a few shops from the foodcourt. I found it at Phoon Huat, Simei central. They sell in package of 25gm for S$1.30 in powder form. I would prefer to have the leaves type, that would be better.

Also, I went into a chinese medical shop and asked for grass jelly leaves. Yup, they do have and I bought 50 cents just to try out first.

[Smurfy]

Ate half a can of grass jelly. Some with green soya milk, some with honey as like thee. Then, spent half a day in the loo.

[Melissa]

I make my own chin chow from some leave that I bought from the chinese medical shop. But it does not turn out to be good. I mixed it with agar agar. No good.
Have to throw away. I just tried with chin chow powder which I bought from a chinese medical shop in Bedok.
It turn out perfect. It is much cheaper to buy the powder form and make yourself.

[Melissa]

Smurfy, I think it is the soya milk that caused your stomach upset.

[ST]

Hi Melissa
Do you have the address of the medical shop in Bedok? How does it taste compared to ready made chin chow? If you read Mandarin, this Taiwanese food forum has lots of recipe and tips on home made chin chow.