Chin Chin Grass Jelly is our favourite brand of grass jelly. Or rather, it’s the brand that D’s parents purchased and what we’ve always associated with grass jelly, so we’ve inherited their brand loyalty. It’s a tad dearer than the brands out of China but it tastes good and the quality is reliable, so we’re sticking to it!
Grass jelly is made by boiling the aged and slightly oxidized stalks and leaves of Mesona chinensis with potassium carbonate for several hours with a little starch and then cooling the liquid to a jelly-like consistency.
The jelly is an opaque deep brown-black colour with a mellow smoky aroma. Served chilled on its own, it tastes much like how it smells: smoky with a hint of bitterness. It’s a jelly that begs for sweetness and we enjoy it cubed and soaked in sugar water together with the liquid in the can (1/3 cup sugar dissolved in 250 mL hot water, chilled then combined with the contents of 3 cans – we include a mix of grass jelly and green grass jelly). Served chilled and sweetened, the bitterness is masked, while the jelly is firm with a slight bounce with the same smokiness. The jelly leaks some of its flavour into the sugar water giving it a pleasant flavour that’s immensely refreshing in summer.
This Chin Chin Grass Jelly contained 540 g. It was produced in Taiwan and purchased in Sydney, Australia in 2018.