Grass Jelly (Cincau) is a traditional Chinese herbal dessert that is delicious by itself or enjoyed in boba drinks. Cincau is a sweet dessert commonly consumed by Asian countries like Hong Kong, Southern China, and Taiwan.
Traditionally, it is created from boiling leaves or stems from mesona plants and a small amount of cornstarch or rice flour to make this herbal dessert. However, this method of cooking is difficult to process. That's why, for our recipe, we'll be using grass jelly powder to save time. It's also much more accessible to find overseas.
Comparing our recipe to the times we've had it in our bubble tea drinks and in Taiwanese desserts with taro balls, we think our Chinese black jelly recipe is spot on.
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What Is Grass Jelly Made Out Of?
Cincau, also known as leaf or herb jelly, is a traditional herbal dessert among Asians. The main ingredient is a plant named Chinese mesona.
This grass jelly plant is cultivated in many East Asian countries, including China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. They usually grow in dry, grassy, and sandy areas. The cincau is a black-brown-looking gelatine with a mildly bitter taste and is mostly eaten with milk or some syrup.
It is essential to note that mesona leaves and stems are used for cooking. Potassium and cornstarch are the key ingredients you need to add to make cincau.
Taste
Grass jelly has a mild and slightly bitter taste with a hint of mint. The bitter taste is common among herbal plants that are made into food. Cincau has a mild taste that pairs perfectly with maple syrup, honey, and other sweet ingredients.
People have herbal cincau served with ice cubes and milk to cool themselves from the summer heat from time to time. It is delicious and refreshing, and almost every Asian loves it.
But if you want to experience this classic Chinese dessert in outside countries like the USA, UK, etc., you mostly have it out of canned versions. If you make this boba topping at home, the flavour intensity will completely depend on how you prepare it.
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you'll need to make cincau, or grass jelly, for boba or a simple Chinese dessert with coconut milk.
- Grass jelly powder (ideally not flavoured and without sugar) or dried grass jelly herbs
- Sugar
- Cornstarch
- water
The key ingredient of our recipe is grass jelly powder packs, which you can find in most Chinese groceries, usually in the baking section. Make sure you read the label to see if your cincau powder contains other ingredients, like sugar and essence.
The one we typically like to use has sugar inside. So, we recommend reducing the amount of sugar you add depending on the grass jelly powder you use.
Try to choose one that has no added flavouring or essence. However, you can add the banana essence or other fruit essence during the last minute of cooking.
Alternatively, you can also use dried grass jelly herbs, which will give you a stronger and more authentic flavour. However, this is typically harder to find overseas.
Cornstarch is a must-add to our recipe to make the jelly firmer. The amount we add in the recipe below is great as a boba topping or as a soft topping for desserts like taro balls. The grass jelly comes out soft and easy to suck through a straw.
However, if you need it to hold its shape well and be relatively firm, we recommend adding more cornstarch—doubling the amount.
If you are looking for a healthier alternative to sugar, you can add honey, maple syrup, or cane sugar. You can also use less sugar in the jelly and sweeten your dessert using condensed or evaporated milk.
Cincau Grass Jelly Recipe
Ingredients
- 100 g grass jelly powder
- 10 g cornstarch
- 4 tablespoon sugar
- 1000 ml water
Cooking Instructions
- Combine cincau powder with sugar and cornstarch in ⅓ portion of the water. Stir the mixture to dissolve properly.
- Then, add the other ⅔ portion of the water to a pot, and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Slowly pour the grass jelly mixture, in increments, into the pot of boiling water. Make sure to continuously stir the entire mixture as you do this.
- Heat the mixture until you get bubbles on the surface. Once the mixture starts bubbling, continue heating it and stirring the mixture for another 3 to 5 minutes to ensure the entire mixture has boiled.
- Remove the pot from the stove, and pour the grass jelly mixture into the moulds of your choice. Allow it to cool down at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Then, transfer the moulds to the fridge to cool for at least another 2 hours. Once ready, you can then remove the cincau from the moulds and cut them to your desired size and shape.
Recipe Notes
- The ratio of powder to water may depend on the brand and type of powder used. Some are more concentrated and require very little powder to make a big bowl of cincau. Check the packaging of the cincau powder and adjust accordingly.
- If you notice that the cincau mixture becomes thick and lumpy, use a whisk and stir quickly. This is to make the mixture smooth and free from lumps.
- For a stronger flavour, you can also make this dessert using dried grass jelly herbs. However, you will need to boil this down.
Nutrition
Calories have been calculated using an online calculator. Nutritional information offered on Honest Food Talks is for general information purposes and is only a rough estimate.
Cooking Tips
To make the cincau firmer, you can add more cornstarch. The more firm your grass jelly will be, the easier it is to take it out of the mould without breaking. You can also substitute it with rice flour.
When you see the mixture is lumpy while cooking, simply stir it with a whisk until smooth.
While cooking, make sure the mixture stirs well, including scraping the bottom of the pan to mix the powder properly. The jelly powder has the tendency to sit down at the bottom of the pan if you don't stir.
Always set the temperature to medium or medium-low while cooking the cincau mixture, as high temperatures can make it worse.
You need to cool the cincau mixture at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Then you can transfer it to the refrigerator to set the cincau properly.
Once you've poured the cincau mixture to the mould, pop any bubbles with a toothpick or skim it with a spoon. This is to just help smoothen the surface of the grass jelly as it cools down and sets.
To make into cubes, put the jelly on the cutting board and use a small wavy knife to cut them into small pieces. If your cincau is soft, you may also just cut them in the bowl.
How To Enjoy
You can enjoy grass jelly desserts in whatever way you like based on your personal taste and diet. You can create your own version with our recipe. Here are some of the suggestions to enjoy this bubble tea topping at home.
You can add the cubed desserts to your bubble tea together with other boba toppings like crystal boba. This grass jelly bubble tea is very tasty, and you can enjoy it on summer days.
You can add them as a topping in cold coffee or milk tea, or regular vegan chilled milk. You can make it into a rich dessert by enjoying it with coconut milk, evaporated milk or condensed milk.
A famous drink combination in Southeast Asia is Cinnamon served with soy milk. In Malaysia and Singapore, it's called 'soya cincau' or, in some places, 'Michael Jackson' drink, referring to the drink's black-and-white colours.
You can add other fruit toppings to the drink, such as jelly-like mango, banana, papaya, dragon fruit, and many more. You can add cincau to the fruit salad dessert and enjoy it as a healthy meal.
How To Store
You can store the cincau in an airtight container for up to 1 week. The process of freezing and thawing can damage the structure of the gel. So, avoid keeping them in the freezer.
Grass Jelly Benefits
According to Live Strong, grass jelly is often used to help reduce cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar and protect our body against liver disease and diabetes.
Though it's a dessert, it is commonly believed to offer health and wellness benefits.
- It helps promote digestive system function as the sugar compounds can defeat the bacteria that cause stomach pain. It is also highly effective in preventing diarrhoea and constipation and relieves stomach pain and heartburn.
- Grass jelly ingredients contain vitamins like A, B1, and C and phosphorus, fibre, calcium, and carbohydrates that are low in calories. All the nutrients are perfect for a weight loss diet as you can control your hunger and excessive eating.
- It helps control the high blood sugar levels of diabetics. It does not cause any problems with insulin spikes.
- It can go through the digestive tract smoothly, which helps digestive it properly.
- You can prevent vertigo diseases, digestive tract, chronic gastritis, hypertension, and cholesterol if you have this herbal dessert.
Traditional Chinese Medicine Benefits
Kathy Ng Yiu-fan explains in an interview with the South China Morning Post that grass jelly has cooling properties that can even make you comfortable during fever and cough.
This popular cube dessert is a cooling food that expels excessive heat from your body in summer to make you feel comfortable. That is why this jelly is mostly eaten on hot days across Asia. Moreover, you can see this herbal cincau in most Asian drinks or desserts, as it is very healthy.
In addition, it has multiple nutritional elements that can defend our bodies from diseases. However, to enhance the taste of cincau, people tend to add more sugar or condensed milk, which should be eaten in moderation. Some people also add colouring to make the boba topping more aesthetically appealing.
With all these potential healthy sides of this amazing Chinese dessert, you should try this at home.
Did you make your own herbal boba topping? Share with us by tagging us on Instagram @honestfoodtalks.
Looking for another dessert boba topping to try making at home? Check out our recipe for preparing egg pudding custard for your bubble tea.
Tito
Goes really well w soy milk