Yunlian Black Grass Jelly

Yunlian Black Grass Jelly

　　Yunlian Black Grass Jelly is fundamentally different in "flavor" from traditional grass jelly snacks found elsewhere. For example, Chengdu’s Guokui Grass Jelly, Luodai Hakka Sadness Grass Jelly, and Nanchong Northern Sichuan Grass Jelly are all sour, numbing, and spicy dishes made from pea starch. In contrast, Yunlian Black Grass Jelly is a local sweet beverage that cools and refreshes during the summer.

　　Black grass jelly is produced by boiling a plant known as cooling grass with water and mixing it with a small amount of alkaline powder and sweet potato starch. In traditional preparation, once the mixture solidifies into a gelatinous form, it is placed in a bamboo basket and cooled in the water of Yuhu Well. After being retrieved from the spring, it is scooped into a bowl, mashed with a bamboo stick, and served with brown sugar syrup. Due to its dark, jade-like and crystal-clear appearance, some literary-minded locals whimsically dubbed it “Ink Crystal Grass Jelly.” However, most people in Yunlian simply call it black grass jelly. It could be said that the existence of Yuhu Well gave rise to this unique dessert.

　　In the past, during summer, the area around Yuhu Well would be lined with black grass jelly stalls, turning the surroundings into a veritable black grass jelly world. Locals of all ages would gather by the cool spring to soak their feet in the icy water while enjoying a bowl of black grass jelly. The refreshing chill coursing through them was an incomparable delight. This unique experience—combining the simple pleasure of local delicacies with the refreshing ambiance—was something outsiders rarely got to enjoy. Groups of people gathering at Yuhu Well to sip black grass jelly and cool off became a distinctive local scene.