Changning Creeping Fig Jelly 常宁凉粉

Changning Creeping Fig Jelly (常宁凉粉) is a clear jelly made from the seeds of liangfen fruit (凉粉果), the local name for creeping fig. In Changning (常宁), it is remembered as a small-bowl treat for hot summer evenings.

How it is made

Writing in Changning News, Wu Guangwen (吴光文) describes putting the seeds in a white cloth bag, then soaking and rubbing them in clean cold water to release their gel. After roughly an hour, the liquid sets into transparent jelly. It is mixed with vinegar, white sugar and minced ginger.

Ingredients

The Hunan agriculture department documents a fruit-bearing vine in Lantian Village (兰田村), Lanjiang Township (兰江乡). Villagers collect its jelly fruit in the fifth and sixth lunar months, with the permission of the Wu family (吴家) whose courtyard wall supports the vine.