I’ve never given much thought to the black jelly drink the locals call ‘xian chao’ or ‘cincau’ – up until recently anyway. That was when I discovered that it originates from a plant; … which is, I now realise, why some people call it ‘grass jelly’!
My interest was piqued when I found out that there was also a green grass jelly. A friend who was given a bunch of Cyclea Barbata leaves, lost no time in making some green jelly.
“Was it good?” I asked.
He was hesitated for a split second. “Tasted of chlorophyll,” he said. “… and it was a murky green,” obviously not overly impressed either by its taste or appearance.
Yet when the chance came for me to get a plant, I didn’t need to think twice. Mine, however, is the Platostoma palustre which yields the black jelly.
The plant has been growing well in its pot and appears to be fuss-free – so far at least.
I hope it won’t be long before I start harvesting some Platostoma palustre leaves for the kitchen. For now, the plan is for the plant to grow a bit more since more leaves mean more jelly.
In the meantime I’m reading up on the plant, as well as on the preparation of the jelly. Something tells me that it’s going to be fun experimenting with all the possibilities!
Care and propagation: Full sun, garden soil, water moderately. Propagate using cuttings or seeds.
This plant is interesting….some Hakka folks make a traditional dessert that looks like angkoo (flat and steamed on banana leaf) but is black in colour. They use a plant but I’ve never been able to get any details about the plant. What’s more interesting is that the name of this dessert is chicken/duck s**t !
I’m serious…..I’ve tasted the dessert (but not the other!) – and it’s chewy and sweet. Could this be the plant used by members of the Hakka community?
Excellent info.
I call it leong fun.
As we know, a Michael Jackson drink is a mix of cincau and soya drink.
Love your blog. How is the cincau plant going? Have you harvested the leaves yet? Is the plant the source too for the colour for the black angkoo kuih?
In my younger days, I remember my mother buying a big bunch of this plant -dried – and boiling it up and extracting the juice which later cooled and gelled into cincau.
MJ drink of cincau and soya sounds like a nice drink. Might experiment with that when I get hold of some cincau in a tin. Unless of course I can get hold of a plant.
no progress with the plant yet. i think it needs a booster, Lisa.
Where can I get one of these plants? I’ve been trying to find one for years. I’ve got a green grass jelly vine but, it’s the black grass jelly that I really want.
Have you tried making the Cincau?
Not yet. 😉
Hi I love cincau hijau but couldn’t find in Malaysia. Can you advice where to get this plant in Malaysia ? Thank you in advance
Try looking for Exotic Matahari Nursery in Facebook
Where did you buy this plant? Thanks!
I bought it online but it died, unfortunately.