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冰粉 (Bingfen, Sichuan ice jelly)
Ice jelly with brown sugar syrup
Clear chilled jelly with brown-sugar syrup, hawthorn, raisins and peanuts
Bingfen is what Chengdu reaches for after a numbing hotpot or on a sticky summer night: a bowl of wobbly, glass-clear jelly, cold from the fridge, splashed with dark brown-sugar syrup and scattered with hawthorn flakes, raisins, peanuts and sesame. It is sold at night markets and hotpot restaurants all over Sichuan and Chongqing, and the jelly itself tastes of almost nothing, just cool and soothing, so the syrup and toppings bring the flavour. It is naturally egg-free and plant-based. The jelly traditionally comes from shoo-fly plant seeds rubbed in water; here it is made with ice-jelly powder, a plant-based setting powder sold in Chinese grocers, which sets clear as it cools. Chef's tip: let the jelly set undisturbed; the common mistake is stirring or moving it while it is half-set, which leaves it cloudy and weeping.
- Total time
- 80 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the jelly
- ⅔ oz ice-jelly powderplant-based bingfen powder
- 4 ¼ cups water
For the brown-sugar syrup
- ½ cup water
To serve
- 1 oz dried hawthorn flakesbroken up
- 1 oz raisins
- 1 oz roasted peanutscrushed
- 1 tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
- ½ tsp dried osmanthus flowers (optional)
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Bring 4 ¼ cups water to a rolling boil in a pan.
5 minStep 2: Sprinkle ⅔ oz ice-jelly powder over the boiling water while whisking hard, then whisk for 1 minute more, until fully dissolved with no specks.
1 minStep 3: Pour into a wide glass dish and leave to cool at room temperature for 20 minutes without moving it.
20 minStep 4: Chill for 40–60 minutes, until set firm with a slight wobble when you tap the dish.
50 minStep 5: Meanwhile, simmer 3 ½ oz Chinese brown sugar or dark muscovado with ½ cup water over a medium heat for 4–5 minutes, until syrupy and dark amber. Cool, then chill.
5 minStep 6: Cut the jelly into cubes or scoop it with a spoon into bowls. Pour over the cold syrup and top with 1 oz dried hawthorn flakes, 1 oz raisins, 1 oz roasted peanuts, 1 tbsp toasted white sesame seeds and ½ tsp dried osmanthus flowers.
3 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 190 kcal
- Protein
- 3 g
- Carbs
- 37 g
- Fat
- 4 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does 冰粉 (Bingfen, Sichuan ice jelly) take?
- About 80 minutes in total: 70 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of toasted white sesame seeds?
- Poppy seeds or finely chopped pumpkin seeds, same amount.
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