A soft black grass jelly that the Hakka of Meizhou eat through the summer to beat the heat. Dried mesona (the grass-jelly herb) is long-boiled with a pinch of edible alkali until the water turns inky and thick, then strained and set with a little sweet-potato starch into a glossy, tender jelly. Chilled, it is cut into the bowl and dressed with honey or brown-sugar syrup — jet-black, jiggling, faintly grassy and cooling. It is close kin to Taiwanese hot grass jelly (烧仙草), which is served hot, thicker, and loaded with toppings; here the Hakka version is eaten cold and plain.
Grass jelly belongs to the Hakka summer, eaten across Meizhou in Guangdong as a heat-clearing snack and known there as 草粄. There is no single inventor or founding date — it is a folk dessert built on a wild herb: dried mesona (凉粉草, also called 仙人草 or 仙草), the dried aerial parts of a plant in the mint family. The same jelly travels under many regional names: the Hakka call it 仙人粄, while Minnan and Taiwan serve a hotter, thicker version as 烧仙草. Its cooling reputation is widely held in folk practice; the dish is best understood plainly as a traditional Hakka summer sweet rather than a dated invention.
Jet-black and translucent, soft enough to wobble when the bowl is moved but firm enough to hold a clean cut. The texture is slippery and tender, melting on the tongue, with a faint cool whiff of grass and herb and a whisper of bitterness underneath. Honey or brown-sugar syrup laces over the top, sweet against the herb. Eaten cold, ideally straight from the fridge — the colder it is, the more it cuts the summer heat.
The jelly is built from the herb's own gum. Mesona is rich in water-soluble polysaccharides stored in its cell walls; a long, slow boil breaks the walls down and pulls this gum (仙草胶) into the water. Because it is an acidic polysaccharide, it dissolves better in alkali, so a small pinch of edible alkali (or the old wood-ash lye) helps the gum release faster and the jelly set firmer, while cutting the boiling time sharply. The same alkaline conditions draw out the flavonoids that give the jelly its deep black. The herb gum alone sets only into a fragile gel, so a little sweet-potato starch (or rice slurry — Hakka kitchens also use cassava or canna) is stirred in and re-boiled to thicken it into a sliceable jelly, then chilled to set firm. Taiwanese hot grass jelly pushes the starch and gum higher for a thicker body served warm; the Hakka version stays softer and is eaten cold.
Variations
The usual dressing is honey, but a Hakka summer bowl is just as often laced with brown-sugar syrup (红糖水); a drop of fragrant osmanthus or banana essence (香露) is a common touch. The same jelly is called 草粄 in parts of Meizhou. Its closest relative is Taiwanese and Minnan 烧仙草 — the same herb, but served hot, thicker, and piled with red beans, taro balls, peanuts and the like, a separate eating tradition rather than the same dish. Modern shops sell instant grass-jelly powder you set with hot water, but the long-boiled herb gives a cleaner, more fragrant jelly.
On the Palate
Where Hakka Grass Jelly sits in the Chinese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6How it's made
7 steps · 20 min
- 110 min
Rinse 50 g dried mesona to wash off grit, then soak briefly in cold water.
- 270 min
Put the herb in a large pot with 2.5 litres of water and a small pinch of edible alkali; bring to a boil, then simmer gently for about 1 hour until the water turns inky and slightly thick.
Watch outSimmer the mesona a full hour until the water goes inky and slightly thick — that's the plant gum released, and it's what sets the jelly.
- 310 min
Strain out and discard the herb, squeezing the liquid through, to leave a clean black brew.
- 45 min
Whisk 60 g sweet-potato starch into 200 ml cold water until smooth, then pour the slurry into the simmering brew, stirring constantly.
- 58 min
Keep stirring and boil another 5 minutes until the liquid thickens to a glossy, pourable batter, then pour into a bowl or mould.
Watch outBoil five more minutes after the starch slurry goes in, stirring — under-cooked and it stays runny and won't firm.
- 6200 min
Cool to room temperature, then chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours until firmly set.
- 75 min
Cut the jelly into cubes in the bowl and dress with honey or brown-sugar syrup; serve cold.
