Lemongrass Chinchow Dessert (甜水)

It’s almost the end of the one month school holiday, and we are finally going on a vacation! I’m busy packing today, plus the weather was so hot this morning that I did not feel like doing anything elaborate. So I made a easy and refreshing dessert of lemongrass and chin chow which can be finished before we leave tomorrow.

To prepare the dessert, boil the lemongrass and pandan leaves for about an hour. After it has been chilled, add in the chin chow and its ready to serve. The lemongrass and pandan leaves give the dessert a lovely soothing fragrance, and the chewy chin chow goes well with the flavours. You can add a couple of drops of lime juice if you wish.

Lemongrass chinchow dessert (makes 6-8 glasses)

Ingredients

• 6 small stalks of lemon grass, washed
• 6 pieces of pandan leaves, washed and bundled together
• 9 cups of water
• 70 g of rock sugar
• 250 g of unsweetened chin chow jelly
• A few drops of lime juice per glass (optional)

Method

• Wash and cut up each stalk of lemon grass into 3 pieces. Cut each piece length-wise to expose the fleshy parts inside and smash the lemongrass so that more fragrance will be released when it is boiling.
• Boil lemongrass stalks and pandan leaves in the water over a low flame for an hour. Add the rock sugar towards the end and stir till it dissolves. Discard the lemongrass stalks and pandan leaves. After it has cooled down, chill in the refrigerator.
• Cut up the chin chow into small pieces and mix into the lemongrass water before serving. Add a couple of drops of lime juice if you wish.