Herbal tortoise jelly, black sesame dessert soup - black is GOOD!
Black food !
Left: Herbal jelly, some say tortoise jelly, 龟苓膏 pronouned Gui Ling Gao. Right: black sesame soup/paste, 芝麻糊
Is BLACK aesthetically photo-shoot-friendly ? In some ways, it might look unappetizing and digusting but hear more of black food before you make your statement.
Herbal Jelly - typically prepared from powder (made of grinded turtle shells or not - needs more verification), with other herbal substances added to the jelly to give its bitter (medicinal) taste. To enjoy it, you are sure to find honey served alongside, so that you can adjust the level of bitterness to your own liking.
Have the jelly served cold, or warm but not many people like this medicinal bitterly tasting dessert - an acquired taste, perhaps. If you like grass jelly, the texture of tortoise jelly is akin to grass jelly. I really want some to soothe my sore throat and bad cough now. This herbal jelly is known to have health benefits such as treating sore throats, and improving general health.
This black sesame dessert is a form of sweet soup in Cantonese cuisine. The main ingredient is crushed black sesame seeds. It is then boiled with hot water. Depending on the sesame seeds which sometimes can be already sweet, the level of sweetness is adusted during boiling by adding sugar. Those instant soup packs can't beat this, I am so sure! This one I had in Hong Kong was so smooth.
And this soup is one of those few that is known to give you beautiful, black hair, if you consume it regularly. According to sources, the Chinese black sesame seed soup helps to improve the health of the scalp, thus nourishes the hair. Black sesame seeds are high in protein, and minerals such as phosphorous, iron and magnesium. It will then be no doubt that these seeds imparts youth and darkness to one's hair. So, if you are are seeing premature greying of your hair, don't use a hair dye. Black sesame soup can be your "natural hair dye" fit for a dessert or snack :P
What other black food can you think of ?
Tag:desserts, jelly, black sesame
32 comments:
How about pulut hitam? Before one ladles oodles of white santan into it? Delish. I guess I love all these Black Desserts too! :D
Yes. It's beautiful.
Those both make beautiful photographs. The black food I think of immediately are black beans. Then there is egg plant that's black on the outside. Have a great week.
Pulut hitam/black glutinous rice is one black dessert that I can think of! AR loves that.
I love the black sesame paste! Packet versions tastes "fake" usually.. =(
oh! I forgot to add, herbal jelly is a dessert that I still crave for from HK even though my last visit was more than 10 years ago! Seriously!!! I have tried so many kinds of herbal jelly in SG and KL but it still can't be compared to the ones in HK! I wonder why?
wow!! what a brilliant idea..i feel like singing: black is back i want my baby back..i think my lyrics are wrong hahahaha!! i love black jelly in desserts never imagined it could be good in soup too
Oh, I also like those two you have featured. Especially the herbal jelly. I heard it is good for skin!
the only black dessert i could think of that i've tried is black coffee jelly. :D it's about time i tried some other yummy black desserts. :) have a great week! :)
Actually I haven't tried black sesame dessert yet! I don't like the black sesame seeds filling, do you think I dare to try this black soup version? *hmmmm...probably will pass* :P
Mmmmm...so many black-colored desserts. I didn't know that black sesame seed soup will give you black beautiful hair, does that mean that yummy dark chocolate will give me dark chocolate hair too? ;)
Sesame soup is great. I wish I could say I make my own but mostly we use the instant packages.
Do you have a recipe for homemade?
I've never seen anything like this! Cool shots! Happy Monday! :)
Love black sesame.. hmm... black sesame ice cream, century egg, pulut hitam ang ku kuih?? are those count haa..
Other than black jelly beans and black licorice I've never seen black food before.
Squid ink pasta - my favourite!!!
My grandma's banh it la gai. They're dumplings that turn black from a leaf that she purees and uses the liquid to turn the dough black.
I don't like the thought of eating the poor little turtle. :(
I'm not a fan of gui ling gao. I love sesame but for some reason the black sesame paste never appealed to me! I do love grass jelly though.
Black food... I thought of fa cai (the moss fungus eaten during Chinese new year). I've got a photo of that somewhere, need to dig it up and post it!
I love black sesame soup and the black sesame balls that are boiled -- yum!
we have consumed tons of black coffee and those roadside black brew but still have one white hair !how can !
we want our money back !
Black Sesame dessert is my favourite. I love black sesame filled glutinous rice balls too! My family eats gui ling gao often... to cleanse and prevent heatiness.
Visit your site almost daily. Black sesame soup is also very good with soya bean curd(tau-fu-fah) which in HK they call it "huk-pak"(=black-white). Another combo is "hung-pak" which is tau-fu-fah with red bean soup. Weird but tasty! Just thought of a black food...black bean soup which is popular in (I think) carribean cuisine.
the only black food I can think of is black caviar hehe!
Licorice! Yumyum! That's black!
Black food....Well, I'm in the same category as those who said black beans and licorice. I know I've eaten something black at a dim sum restaurant, but I have no idea what it was!
As for medicinal values, that's something I have a clue about. Both the turtle shell and the sesame are what we call yin tonics. They help moisten and cool, which is why they'd be good for that sore throat. As for making your hair black -- well, it's too late for that! ;-)
Um, black pudding?
I've been hearing about black sesame seeds lately, but have never seen them. something else to look for next time I'm in a city.
Anyone heard of sotong masak hitam (black squid dish)? It looks yucky, leaves your teeth blackish and gets trapped under your fingernails if you pick at it with your fingers but it tastes so absolutely yummy I'm willing to endure all the stains afterwards!
kenny, pulut hitam "also counted"! Buaahhhahah...I like it too!
sandy, black is classic! Yay!
carver, I'm not a fan of egg plants. As for black beans, they are nutritious but
I seldom see them around.
daphne, packet versions are too sweet most of the times! :O
dhanggit, hhahhahaha, you make me laugh :)
wilfrid, seems that herbal jelly has all the good, ya?
munchkin mommy, black coffee jelly? I think I need to try this!
little corner, oh ye? I like black sesame filling "tang yuen"!
east meets west, hahhahah....I like dark chocolate too!
kc, wooo....unfortunately I don't. But I think if you are able to grind your
own black sesame seeds till powder, you can just boil it and add sugar?
jen, thanks for visiting! Another monday today.
cocoa, yes yes...counted counted!
natalie, I'm not a fan of licorice.
SAHM, oh yes...they have a lot of squid ink things in Taiwan. Squid ink bread too!
wandering choppy, banh it la gai - my first time hearing that! :O
nilmandra, yes yes...fa cai, the "hair-like" THING!?
allen, oh yes, they are good!
team bsg, hahhhaahhahhah!
ECL, me too like "zhi ma tang yuen"....and gui ling gao too!
anonymous, thanks for your support! :D and hope you enjoy coming to my blog.
I think to try what you recommended. They sound great!
expedited writer, heard about it but never tried it :P ..too luxurious.
wokandspoon, I'm not a fan of it.
toni, yes...I heard about the herbal jelly having "cooling" effects too!
katiez, oh yes yes...forgotten about black pudding.
ly, yes....I think it's the same as those squid ink pasta, squid ink bread.
After we eat, make sure you don't talk! hahhaa
thanks for visiting.
As a kid, i love the black herbal jelly; we called it, sien chow. I comes in a can and we chop it into little pieces and serve it with regular syrup and water.
Another black food I ate growing up as a kid was cooked black rice (or forbidden rice) served with cold coconut milk.
sure a divine dessert, lovely , a jewel and a gem!
ming, but this herbal jelly also known as Gui Ling Gao is not Sien Chow. It's bitter, you know. I'm sure you can get it in Chinese rest. over in NY.
big boys oven, you know you know!
Yikes...that soup looks positively funky and I can just imagine how it tastes!
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