Grass Jello

Hi Folks! Thank you for visiting my blog. Sorry for not posting for quite some time, I'll try making it a weekly contribution whenever possible.

Let's get right to it!  What exactly is Grass Jello made of?  I did a bit of the research and here's what I found:

First of all, the black cubes here is the Grass Jello, it's usually added to dessert like this snow ice, along with mango, red bean, & condensed milk drizzle.

 with shaved ice, ginger syrup, and red beans

 with green tea snow ice, green beans, red beans, & boba ( I prefer grass jello!)

It can be purchased in a can like this...you can find them in Asian markets

 Looks like liquid Obsidian, don't you agreed?

Cut them into cubes

Add some simple syrup & lego ice cubes to make a refreshing, simple, & fun dessert

Add fruits, syrup, & evaporated milk

So delicious with just watermelon...yum!

Here's one with red beans, lotus seeds, mochi, & some good old fashioned vanilla ice cream. Of course, you can use any ice cream you like, my preference is green tea ice cream :)

 This is the type of plant that Grass Jello is made from, it's called Mesona Chinensis

Scientific Classification: Kingdom > Plantae, Order > Lamiales, Family > Lamiaceae, Genus > Mesona, Species > M. chinensis

 Here's what the plant looks like, many were grown under fruit trees as a second crop.  Mesona chinensis belongs to the mint family, it grows extensively in Southeast Asia, for example China and Taiwan.  The plant prefers ravines, grassy, dry, and sandy areas, it grows from 15-100 cm tall with hairy stems and leaves. The leaves are of tear-drop shape and serrated edges.
In Chinese, it's called XianCao (仙草) or (涼粉草)
In Vietnamese, it is sương sáo 
In Thai, its name is เฉาก๊วย 

 Mesona Chinensis is allowed to oxidize and slightly dried to develop a concentrated flavor and darkened color

 Then, thoroughly dried and compressed into a drum for transportation to the factory 

 After cooking, the liquid is strained and separated

Finally, the freshly made Grass Jello is ready for consumption.  Restaurants or street vendors scoop these fresh grass jello, add all kinds of accompaniments and transform them into one of the favorite desserts of the Eastern culture.

Medicinal value:  Since the plant came from the mint family, it has cooling property and can offer heat relief in hot summer days. Some herbal medicine doctor recommend this to lower blood pressure.  If you taste the grass jello by itself, it's a bit bitter, that's why we use it in dessert.  The after taste of grass jello is wonderful, feels healthy and light.