Qin Shihuang sent people to the east to find immortal grass? Looking in the wrong direction.

In the 37th year of Emperor Qin Shihuang (210 BC), in the last year of the reign of Qin Shihuang, the scholar Xu Fu, with 6000 virgins and virgins, sailed eastward to Penglai, Abbot and Yingzhou, seeking immortal grass, and never returned.

I really feel sorry for the failure of Qin Shihuang and Xu Fu, because if the direction of their plan is now southeast and southern China, not only can they easily get fairy grass, what delicious desserts such as tortoise Ling ointment, Aiyu Jelly （Vegetarian Gelatin） and Simi Lu can be easily brought back!

Drooling while matching the picture. Picture: epochtimes.com

All right, skin back to skin, let's talk about fairy grass seriously.

Fairy grass, mainly from the cold powder grass (Platostoma palustre) of Labiatae. In the Flora of China, the scientific name of this genus is Mesona, but in the APG classification system based on molecular evidence, it has been reclassified into Platostoma.

As for why it is called "fairy grass", there are many folklore, and it is difficult to make a textual research. There is a saying that the ancients could cook a large pot of immortal grass jelly when they saw a small handful of dry powder grass, thinking that it could become more with less. But I think that although the ancients did not understand the conservation of matter, they were not so stupid that they could not see that the increase in the volume of Xiancao jelly was due to water, right?

If you bring a fresh herb plant, most people will not associate it with black jelly-like fairy grass jelly. Four-angled stems, opposite leaves, verticillate inflorescences, lip-shaped Corolla, four nutlets, people familiar with the plant can tell at a glance that it is related to peppermint. Unlike peppermint, it does not have a strong cold mint flavor, the front part of the leaves are sharp rather than mint oval, verticillium inflorescences grow above the stem, forming intermittent racemes.

The cool powder grass doesn't look like fairy grass at all. Picture: epochtimes.com

Cold powder grass can be made into immortal grass jelly because it is rich in soluble polysaccharides, which can feel sticky and slippery when you take off the leaves and rub them. Fairy grass polysaccharides mainly exist in the cell wall, dissolved in water can be solidified into a gel, generally referred to as fairy grass gum. Xiancao gum is an acidic polysaccharide, which is easier to dissolve in alkaline solution, so adding a little edible alkali in the process of making fairy grass is helpful to the release of gum. The black color of immortal grass jelly mainly comes from flavonoids in cells, and it is also easier to dissolve in alkaline environment. The stems of fresh herbs sometimes show purplish red, which is also caused by this pigment.

Liriodendron chinense is mainly distributed in the waterside or sandy soil grassland in southern China. It generally creeps in the wild, while it often stands upright in artificial culture. What is interesting is that the content of glial polysaccharides produced in the two growth states is not the same. Some studies have found that the gum content of creeping grasses is higher and the gel performance is better, but because the growth on the stomach takes up too much space, the gum yield per unit area is not as high as that of the upright type.

A row of immortal grass planted in the field. Picture: digitalarchives.tw

The solidification principles of several common gelatinous snacks are not the same. Tortoise Ling ointment mainly depends on gelatin, the hydrolysate of animal collagen, and ice powder is pectin solidified with the help of calcium ions. As for fairy grass, in addition to its own colloidal polysaccharides, it also depends on a foreign aid-starch.

The method of making Xiancao jelly is to boil the dried vermicelli grass in water, and you can also put some dried longan and other seasonings, which will boil out a pot of black soup. At this time, add sugar, and finally need to add starch to thicken. When it is cold, it will solidify into black fairy grass jelly.

After solidification, the immortal grass is often cut into small squares, which is very lovely. Picture: wiki commons

There are many ways to eat frozen immortal grass. Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan will cut it into small pieces and add ice cubes with sugar water. It is very good to eat it in summer. In winter, it is sprinkled with red beans and peanuts while it is hot, which is called burning immortal grass. The way to eat in Chaoshan area is called grass dumplings (not the kind of green glutinous rice dumplings), which looks more simple and rugged. Scrape the warm immortal grass jelly from a large ceramic jar with a copper spoon and put it into a bowl. After a few strokes, add brown sugar or white sugar. When eating, even a spoon is not a necessity. If you suck along the edge of the bowl, you can eat the bowl dry. In Nanyang areas such as Malaysia and Singapore, Xiancao jelly is often cut into small strips and mixed in drinks.

Burning fairy grass. Picture: senshanxiancao.com

The grass of Chaoshan. Picture: sohu.com

Fairy grass is also often mixed with other ingredients to make desserts. Picture: lovesomei.com

Well, after watching so many delicious fairy grass in the middle of the night, aren't you a little hungry? The good news is that Xiancao is not really hungry anymore.

This article is for species Calendar 2016, from @ Desert Porcupine, author of species Calendar.

All right, come and think about it. If you are Qin Shihuang, apart from asking Xu Fu to bring back more immortal grass, what else are you going to bring him back along the way? What, have you entered the takeout mode yet? )

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