Osmanthus Gorgon Fruit

Osmanthus Gorgon Fruit

　　[Ingredients] 250g gorgon fruit, 350g white sugar, 1.5g osmanthus sugar

[Cooking Method] Wash the gorgon fruit and rinse clean, then place it in a clay pot (avoid using an iron pot). Pour in 750g of water, bring to a boil over high heat, skim off any foam, then reduce to medium heat. Add sugar and cook until soft and tender. Pour the mixture while hot into a serving bowl with osmanthus sugar. Ready to serve.

[Key Techniques] 1. You may add 2.5g of salt to enhance the flavor, making it sweet but not greasy, with an excellent texture.

2. Avoid using an iron pot as it will cause the color to turn black.

[Flavor Profile] Gorgon fruit, also known as fresh gorgon seed, is small and round with a slightly pointed top, resembling a chicken’s head—hence its name. The gorgon fruit produced around Fengmen in Suzhou typically comes to market around the Mid-Autumn Festival and has long been praised as “the big lotus roots of Datang and the gorgon fruits of Nantang.” With a long history, the Qing Dynasty poet Shen Chaochu wrote in his poem “Recalling Jiangnan”: “Suzhou is good, its medicinal-water-grown gorgon fruit gleams like tens of thousands of pearls, tender and fragrant, perfect for a delicate bowl. Gently peeled in a quiet courtyard.” This shows that the gorgon fruit from Suzhou’s Nantang has long been famous.

Gorgon fruit is mainly used in desserts. Osmanthus Gorgon Fruit soup, made primarily with gorgon fruit, is sweet and smooth, with a rich aroma of osmanthus. The gorgon fruit appears as pearly white pearls. It is a renowned dessert served at formal banquets in Suzhou.