Osmanthus Jelly/ Gui Hua/桂花糕 ... or at least it looks like it is
Yes, I like the fragrance of osmanthus! Got my first try eating the Gui Hua Tang Yuan and felt in love with the fragrance. It took me a while before I am able to try making my own jelly because I wasn't successful in finding the flower.
Thanks to technology, I found the place to purchase the flowers (in Singapore) from a lady who wrote in her blog. Knowing exactly where it will be available, I decided to look if my neighborhood area has it. Surprisingly, it is available in the Chinese Medical Hall. Thus, it's not that difficult afterall. Just head to your nearest Chinese Medical Hall and ask if they have it.
Note that this is one of the recipe that I came across for making Osmanthus Jelly. There seems to be several ways to making Osmanthus Jelly.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Back to the recipe, I started with
- a packet of 10g Konnyaku Jelly Powder (Unsweetened)
- 950ml water (following the instruction of the Jelly Powder packet)
- 210g sugar (following the instruction of the Jelly Powder packet)
- 2 teaspoons* dried osmanthus flowers (following the recipe from the lady blogger, which is 1 tsp flower for every 400ml water).
- Optional: Wolfberry 2 tsp (Rinse with water to preserve the taste)
* Note that the tsp don't not need to be a full rounded, just the normal level tsp will do.InstructionsNote: If you decide to make one big piece (which I did), after pouring the mixture into the mould, you may notice some bubbles. Using a spoon, press lightly on the bubbles to make them disappear.
- Add 2 teaspoons dried osmanthus flowers in 950ml water in a pot. Using medium heat, wait for the water (with flowers) to boil.
- While waiting, use a big bowl and combine 210g sugar and 10g Konnyaku Jelly Powder and stir till sugar and jelly powder is blended in with each other. Leave aside and check on the water.
- Once the water is boiling, switch to a lower heat and drain approximately half of the dried osmanthus flowers from the water. (Do not discard, leave aside).
- Add in blended sugar + jelly powder gradually into the water and stir constantly to prevent any lumps.
- When the entire portion of blended sugar + jelly powder are mixed into the water, keep stirring till water boils again.
- Remove from heat and add in the flowers (that was removed in step 3 earlier on) and stir for a while.
- Optional: Place wolfberry at the base of jelly mould
- Pour the mixture into desired jelly mould.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Differences between Konnyaku Jelly Powder "Unsweetened" and "Premixed"
I had the opportunity to try out both the Konnyaku Jelly Powder "Unsweetened" and "Premixed".
I prefer Konnyaku Jelly Powder (Unsweetened) which gives a firmer, "Q" version and such that when you bite a piece, it it almost like you are taking a portion away from the jelly but it could be too sweet if the mixture was over-boiled when making.
The Konnyaku Jelly Powder (Premixed) is of a softer bite and it feels like eating a cake (fluffy-feel). Making the Osmanthus Jelly which the pre-mixed version seems to have a more flowery fragrance as compared to the unsweetened version.
Cheers to all
Comments