My Kind of Grass!!!

Grass Jelly Drinks have always been a fave of mine - it is more than a refreshing drink... it is a dessert.. in the Philippines the version is called GULAMAN... and this was something I crave and looked for growing up in San Francisco... normally we have to hit a Filipino Bakery or Restaurant in the South San Francisco areas to satisfy the craving... that is, till I discovered that in Chinatown - one can get the Grass Jelly drinks... they are not as sweet as the Filipino Gulaman... which makes them a bit better... and healthy too.... here in Taiwan, there is an abundance of stalls that sells them - and for this am quite HAPPY!

Grass Jelly is made by boiling the aged and slightly fermented stalks and leaves of Mesona chinensis (member of the mint family) with potassium carbonate for several hours with a little starch and then cooling the liquid to a jelly-like consistency. This jelly can be cut into cubes or other forms, and then mixed with syrup to produce a drink or dessert thought to have cooling (yin) properties, which makes it typically consumed during hot weather. The jelly itself has a slight bitter taste, a light iodine lavender flavor, and is a translucent black. It can also be mixed with soy milk to produce a milky white liquid with black strands in it.

In China & Taiwan, grass jelly was traditionally served with sugar syrup. Now it is often served mixed with other ingredients, such as mango, sago, watermelon, cantaloupe, and other fresh or canned fruit, and evaporated milk.
My roomies, Lyn, David & Shaun enjoys their glass jelly drinks after the movies....