Recipe for Osmanthus Jelly (with Red Dates & Chinese Wolfberries)! #osmanthusjelly #cavinkitchen #recipe

A post shared by Cavin (@cavinteo) on Dec 31, 2017 at 1:35am PST

One of the first few things i attempted in my kitchen, when i moved into my own humble abode, was osmanthus jelly and for someone who couldn't even manage to fry an egg, i scrambled around for recipe and found a really easy one from "The Hedgehog Knows".

While the recipe is a definite keeper, i have tweaked it a bit after going through quite a number of batches. Hence, i will share my version in my blog for the benefit of friends and relatives who have asked me for it.

Ingredients:

• Plain Water - 950 ml
• Fine Sugar - 150 grams
• Konnyaku Jelly Powder - One 10-gram pack
• Dried Osmanthus Flowers - 4 teaspoons
• Chinese Wolfberries - 4 teaspoons
• Red Dates - 5 large ones

Instructions

Step 01 - Wash the jelly moulds and left them to dry. You can easily get them at places like Kitchen Capers, Phoon Huat and they came in many shapes and sizes! In the event you don't wish to get the moulds (they can be hard to keep), you can use bowls, cups or whatever that can hold liquid.

Step 02 - Remove the seeds from the red dates (got them from Wing Joo Loong) and slice them up. As the dates could be very sweet, i would suggest slicing them into smaller pieces for better distribution

Step 03 - Take out 450 ml of plain water and throw the sliced dates into it. 

Step 04 - Do the same for the dried osmanthus flowers (mine's from Hock Hua Tonic)! Please be mindful that it's 4 teaspoons and not 4 tablespoons. I did the latter once and the end product was a tad too bitter for any saccharine enjoyment! 

Step 05 - Soak the red dates and dried osmanthus flowers for at least one hour. As i am lazy and prefer to do things in stages, i usually prepare the aforementioned the night before. To prevent bugs, i will cover the bowl and put it in the fridge for an immersive, overnight soak.

Step 06 - If your craving is so strong until you die die need to have it that day, you can proceed to soak the chinese wolfberries (from Wing Joo Loong) in 100 ml of plain water for 15 minutes. Drain the chinese wolfberries after that but don't throw away the reddish water! Keep it as you would need it shortly.

Step 07 - Tear the pack of Konnyaku Jelly Powder; the one i used is manufactured by Jim-Willie Trading Co Pte Ltd, a Singapore company! You can purchase them from major supermarkets like Giant and NTUC and it costs about S$1.30 a pack. 

Step 08 - Mix the fine sugar with the koonyaku jelly powder! The recipe calls for 250 grams of fine sugar whereas "The Hedgehog Knows" reduces it to 200 grams. My mom finds it too sweet and i reduced it further to 150 grams. You can also substitute fine sugar with brown sugar.  

Step 09 - Ensure a thorough mix of the fine sugar and koonyaku jelly powder so that you don't get lumps when you pour them into the boiling pot of water later! 

Step 10 - Boil the remaining 400 ml of water in a bigger pot.

Step 11 - Once it starts boiling, proceed to throw in the dried osmanthus flowers and sliced red dates that were soaked in 450 ml of water for at least an hour.

Step 12 - While waiting for the mixture to boil, it's time to place the drained Chinese wolfberries into the moulds. I know of people who hate Chinese wolfberries; hence, you can remove them even though i find that to a great waste of food. p.s. i love Chinese wolfberries. 

Step 13 - Mixture starts boiling again and you can reduce the heat to about half.

Step 14 - Stir the mixture in a fast yet steady circular motion and slowly pour in the fine sugar and konnyaku jelly powder combo; making sure that there's no lump. If lump appears (and it shouldn't if you have followed my instructions), you may use a pair of chopsticks to pick it out. 

Step 15 - The eventual mix would have a glossy, thickened look. Before you do anything, reduce the heat further but do not switch it off. Once the heat is gone, the mixture would slowly harden and this can be disastrous if you decide to make double the servings, as i usually do, and couldn't pour it into the moulds in time. 

Step 16 - Done with the pouring of mixture into the moulds? That's not all; to enjoy osmanthus jelly, you have to wait for the mixture to cool down completely and put the trays of moulds into the fridge! 

End Product! I was supposed to share this recipe before Chinese New Year (CNY) as i had purposely bought the ingot moulds (signifying wealth and prosperity) for this important festival.

Nevertheless, i am not that late as CNY would officially end on 02 March and i believe some of you would continue to entertain guests this weekend. In the midst of this gastronomic festive season, why not make some healthy osmanthus jelly for your guests? Try it; it's really not hard.