Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Gui Ling Gao (Chinese Herbal Jelly)

I made some herbal jelly and it is a lot better than the already made one from the stores. What is herbal jelly and why is it good for you? Gui ling gao is translated as tortoise jelly. But not to worry as there is no turtle parts in the ingredients. Maybe back in the old days they do but not now as it is illegal to use turtle. The herbal jelly is made out of different herbs and flowers. It help nourish our yin and clear body heat while resolve blood toxin. Also specially effective on recovering skin disorder. The taste might be a little bit bitter but taste great with syrup. Eat this chilled and it's a great dessert. A healthy one at least. :) I'm eating at least one bowl a day since I really need to remove all the heat inside me...all those hot chillies, fried food, and sleepless nights.



Ingredients:

5 bags of gui ling gao powder
4 1/2 cups water
100 gm rock sugar
1 slab of candy sugar
3/4 cup water

Method:

1. Put 3 cups of water in a pot with the rock sugar. Boil until rock sugar dissolve.

2. While boiling sugar water, mix the 5 bags of jelly powder with 1 cup water. Mix well with a whisk.

3. After the sugar water is ready, slowly pour in the jelly powder mixture. Whisk at the same time when pouring in the sugar water. Risk the bowl with rest of the 1/2 cup of water and pour in the pot. Whisk fast to prevent lumps and for a smooth texture. The jelly thicken up really quick so prepare the molds a head of time.

4. Pour the thick jelly into the molds and let it cool and set. It will set once it cooled. Put all the jelly in the refrigerator.

5. In another pot, mix the sugar slap and 3/4 cup water to make syrup. Boil the sugar until it dissovle and bubble up. It is have a consistency of the honey. Do not over boil as it may get too thick. If that's the case then add more water in and continue to bring to boil again only until it slightly thicken.

6. Pour some syrup over cold jelly and serve.

Optional: You can serve this with honey, condensed milk, or canned fruits.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Ch3rri,
Please advise if this guilinggao powder is available at the local asian grocers or did you get it from overseas ? I haven't had one for many years & very eager to make my own.
Thanks, Dorie....

Kristy said...

Hi Dorie,

You can get this at the Asian supermarkets. It is very cheap...about $1.49 a box. Each box have 10 bags. Good luck.

Little Corner of Mine said...

This is cool, didn't know they sell the powder gui ling gao. Not sure whether I can find it at the Asian grocery store here, will keep an eye out.

Kristy said...

Yes, I think they sell it everywhere. So far all the Asian stores sell them here. You might able to locate this at the tea or jelly/custard powder aisles. This is way better than the already made one from the store. Plus you get more for making it yourself.

Anonymous said...

gui ling actually stands for powdered turtle shell. Authentic powders are made from powdered shells.

Kristy said...

Back then they do use the turtle shell. But now only herbs. I think it is illegal to use the turtle now. I red the ingredients and none is turtle shell. So this is good to eat. :)

mad4jt said...

Thanx for the information. I'm western & LOVES this tea. Do you know if it is available in supermarkets along Malaysia's east coast?

Kristy said...

Hi Mad4jt,

I'm not sure where to get it other than the supermarkets here in PA. This is not a tea thou. Hope you're able to find it at your local asian supermarkets.

yanni said...

Cheaper powder don't contain turtle shells but the original (expensive) powder is really made from shells. Those are still available in herbal shops in hk.

Yuli said...

Hi Cherie,

I tried making mine yesterday and it's not thickening at all and it's quite runny! at the bottom I think it thickens a bit but on top it's very watery. Do you reckon I put too much water?

Thank You

Yoori snow1081@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

Hi Anon, I also have same problem with you. And I solve my problem by microwave the mix. My step is: mix powder with little bit of water to became paste then mixed the paste with boiling water (my powder is instant one, and that what the direction on the package) but I think what they mean with boiling water is I should boiled the mix. Since I make mine in the office I only have microwave in pantry. If you make your own in home maybe you can boiled the mix.

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Herbal Potpourri