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Sampling Hangzhou’s favorite summer desserts
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HANGZHOU locals are famous for their obsession with desserts. Of course, as we all know, going overboard with decadent sweets and sugary treats can lead to a host of health problems, including obesity and diabetes.
Fortunately, there are plenty of refreshing, healthy sweets you can find across town — or even make right at home using simple ingredients. Some of these include herbal ingredients used in traditional Chinese medicine therapies.
Today Shanghai Daily takes a look at the city’s most beloved summer treats.
Black herbal jelly first emerged as a popular dessert in Fujian Province and Taiwan. In recent years, this sweet creation has spread across the country, where it’s taken on new diverse flavors and enriched ingredients.
Platostoma palustre, commonly known as Chinese mesona, is the main ingredient of the jelly. A plant belonging to the mint family, it grows throughout southern China.
After being simmered with rice for several hours, the serrated leaves produce a mildly sweet jelly-like substance. TCM practitioners say the jelly can remove “inner heat,” quench thirsty, relieve muscle pain, lower blood pressure and ease muscle pain. Of course, when cooled it’s also a refreshing treat on a hot summer day.
The plant’s common Chinese name is xiancao, or literally “immortal grass,” a testament to its restorative properties.
Today, red beans, fruits, pumpkins, taro, glutinous rice balls and other ingredients are added to enhance the jelly’s flavor.
In winter, the jelly is heated into a black soup and served with peanuts and red beans.
Where to eat:
Taipei Street Restaurant
Tel: (0571) 8535-6650
Address: 113-3 Wensan Rd
This dessert originated in Hong Kong in the 1980s. It soon spread around the country by virtue of its cooling taste and ample nutrition. The main ingredients include pomelo, mango and sago.
Now, more and more gastronomes are making this dessert at home to save money and reduce additives.
The first step is to braise the sago until they become transparent. Sago is powdery starch from certain sago palms. It is usually used in local cuisine as a food thickener. Generally, it is made into pearl-like food ingredients added in dessert. TCM practitioners believe that sago can nourish the spleen, help digestion and smooth the skin.
Ladle out the sago pearls and then rinse them with cold water, which makes them more al dente and smoother.
Then melt crystal sugar in water, add the sago pearls and continue heating for two minutes. Next, turn off the flame and wait the soup to cool down. During the cooling process, peel one mango and dice it into cubes, and then squeeze the juice from two other mangos. Meanwhile, peel a pomelo and triturate it.
At last, blend the mango juice with the sago soup, evaporated milk and coconut milk, and then add mango cubes and the ground pomelo. The dessert will taste better after being refrigerated.
Where to eat:
Tangying Dessert
Tel: (0571) 8873-2167
Address: 1 Wuchang Ave
Fritillaria extracts are used in TCM under the name chuanbei. They go with pear as a nutritious dessert to remove “inner heat,” nourish the lungs, reduce sputum and relieve coughing.
Chuanbei has a long history in China, where it was often eaten by emperors and given as a form of tribute.
Chuanbei are usually steamed, boiled or fried, yet some clever cooks figured out a novel approach: stuff chuanbei and crystal sugar inside a pear and then steam it.
It is considered a graceful, luxurious way of enjoying chuanbei since diners just need to use a spoon and take their time to savor the flavor of the pear.
When the dish is served, the pear, with its top cut off, is placed in a glass cup or a bowl. The chuanbei inside the pear are mixed with the fruit’s flesh.
Where to eat:
Shangmingtang Tingyuan Restaurant
Tel: (0571) 8832-2991
Address: 678 Moganshan Rd
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