The most fun I've ever had making and having a drink! These giant grass jelly boba are super easy to make, only takes about 5 minutes of prepping time and they're so bouncy, squishy, and refreshing to eat. Hidden bonus - there is even a medicinal benefit in them especially for summer!
Black grass jelly, aka Cincau, is a naturally vegan dessert that's super popular in southern and eastern Asian countries. It is made from the Chinese mesona plant, which is a member of the mint family. Black grass jelly has a very mild taste on its own, almost tasteless but with a little herbal aroma, it's mostly there for the bouncy squishy texture and is usually served chilled or iced with sweetened soy milk, and other toppings like mochi, sweet red beans etc.
It is believed in Chinese medicine that black grass jelly has a cooling effect and can balance out the heat or "fire" in the body, making it a medicinally beneficial dessert, especially in the summer. Now I'm not a scientist and these are just what I learned and read from research and articles, but regardless, they do taste super refreshing and always cool me down in the hot weather.
You can find black grass jelly powder in most Asian grocery stores and I used this one I found on Amazon.
INGREDIENTS:
For the grass jelly "boba" -
50 gram balck grass jelly powder
200 ml + 800 ml water
For the milk tea -
1 teaspoon oolong loose-leaf tea, or your preferred tea
1 cup water
Soy milk as needed
For the brown sugar syrup -
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup water
TO MAKE:
- Mix the grass jelly powder in 200 ml of cold water, stir to make sure it dissolves well;
- In a pot, bring 800 ml water to boil, then slowly pour in the grass jelly powder mixture, stir to mix very well until it becomes an even, clear glue-like consistency, let it simmer for 5 minutes;
- Pour the hot mixture into your mold, any mold will do, you can even use a glass dish and then cut it into smaller cubes later;
- Let the mixture cool off before transfer to the fridge and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes;
- Meanwhile brew your tea and make the brown sugar syrup;
- To make the syrup, make sure your sauce pot is very DRY, add in the sugar, and drop just a few drops of water in the center, and heat on the stove to melt the sugar, DO NOT STIR, or it can easily crystalize and you'll end up with a pot of sweet sand instead of syrup;
- Once the sugar is completely melted, add in the rest of the water, stir, and let it simmer and thicken to your preferred consistency, please know that as the syrup cools down it will continue to thicken, so don't let it get too thick on the stove;
- Once the grass jelly is chilled, add to a cup, pour the tea and soy milk over it, and finish with brown sugar syrup drizzle, serve immediately, enjoy!
- *the rest of the grass jelly can be kept in the fridge for up to a week.
