Meet you new summer dessert obsession - 2 ingredient watermelon jelly! This refreshing snack is added sugar free, gluten free, vegan, made with only natural food and even has medicinal benefits!
Grass jelly is a traditional dessert that has been consumed in China for centuries and is believed to have originated during the Tang Dynasty. It's made from the Platostoma palustre plant, aka Chinese mesona, which is in the same family as mint and a native plant to Southeast Asia.
The plant has natural cooling and anti-inflammatory properties and is even used as a medicinal aid in the treatments for high blood sugar and high blood pressure etc. And served as a dessert, it's a perfect way to alleviate heat in summer.
It takes less than 10 minutes to prep, mostly you just need to let it set in the fridge and then you'll have a refreshing, healthy, cooling jelly that's so perfectly jiggly and bouncy~
PS. You can also use agar agar to make vegan jelly, I'll include the method below.
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 small watermelon, 800 ml juiced
40 g white grass jelly powder
Blueberries, optional
*if using agar agar, use this ratio-
1 1/3 cup liquid per 1 teaspoon agar agar powder
TO MAKE:
- Scoop out the watermelon flesh and blend until all juiced, keep the watermelon rind;
- Pour the watermelon juice through a mesh strainer to get out any seeds or flesh bits, transfer to a pot and bring to a gentle boil;
- Stir in the grass jelly powder (or agar agar powder), it's very important to keep stirring until all the powder is completely dissolved;
- Bring to a boil again and check to make sure the liquid is clear, without any particles of powder left;
- Pour back into the watermelon rind, drop in the blueberries or other fruits you like;
- Let it cool down at room temperature before transferring into the fridge to fully set, it takes about 4 hours for grass jelly to set and about 2 hours for agar agar;
- Cut and serve cold, enjoy!