Taiwanese Winter dessert

Many foods in Taiwan are seasonal. That is, you can only get them during a certain time of year.  One of my favorites is only available during the winter months: [hanzi]燒仙草[/hanzi] (shāoxiāncÇŽo). Literally, Hot Immortal Grass. In English, it’s commonly known as Hot Grass Jelly.

This is one of those foods that just looks so wrong; it looks like it shouldn’t be good; it looks like there’s no way it can taste good at all. Somehow, though, it works, and remarkably well at that.

At first, it looks just like a cup of hot, black jello.

燒仙草 shāoxiāncǎo
燒仙草 shāoxiāncǎo

After digging into it, however, you discover all sorts of “treasures” inside: taro, red beans, mung beans, and other little “treats.”

燒仙草 shāoxiāncǎo "Treasures"
燒仙草 shāoxiāncǎo

Actually, my favorite version is called [hanzi]布丁燒[/hanzi] (bùdÄ«ngshāo) and is basically the same thing, just with an egg pudding dropped into the bottom which is then mixed up (Hence the “bùdÄ«ng” which is Chinese for “pudding.” I’ll get pictures of one of those later. Regardless, both are delicious winter treats that are very popular in Taiwan.

Comments

2 responses to “Taiwanese Winter dessert”

  1. sb Avatar
    sb

    Didn’t know this was seasonal. Powders are sold so the grass jelly is as easy as making gelatin. Just curious but why is treats in quotes?

    1. The Expatriate Avatar

      It’s in quotes because many foriegners would not consider those ingredients as treasures or treats, hence “treasures” and “treats.”

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