Brown Sugar Rice Jelly | A Caramel Slab Sugar Bowl for Cantonese Summers

Liangxia, literally "cool shrimp", are not shrimp at all. They are small rice jelly droplets, pressed through a mould so each one trails a little tail like a tadpole, then chilled firm in ice water. Across a Cantonese summer they arrive in a bowl of dark, glossy brown sugar syrup, cold enough to fog the glass.

This version leans on the syrup. Ship Brand Caramel Slab Sugar melts into a lemon-brightened brown sugar water that coats every droplet without turning heavy. It is a make-ahead bowl, the kind you set in the morning and eat when the afternoon heat peaks.

The sugar

Caramel slab sugar, 黃片糖, is cane sugar poured and set in slabs the traditional way. It melts slow and even, and it carries a light toffee note that white sugar simply does not have. In a cold dessert this depth is the whole point, so the syrup tastes of something rather than plain sweetness. A few lemon slices simmered in cut the richness and keep the bowl refreshing.

Made with Ship Brand Caramel Slab Sugar 黃片糖. Light caramel cane slabs that dissolve slowly for cooking and syrups. Shop it here.

Recipe

Serves: 3 Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 20 minutes Total: 30 minutes, plus chilling

Ingredients

• 200g water, for the syrup
• 100g Ship Brand Caramel Slab Sugar 黃片糖, broken into pieces
• 30g rock sugar
• A few slices of lemon
• 250g rice jelly powder (涼蝦粉)
• 500g water, for the slurry
• 1000g water, for cooking
• A large bowl of ice water, for setting

Directions

1. Make the syrup. Combine 200g water, the caramel slab sugar, rock sugar and lemon slices in a pot. Boil until fully dissolved, then simmer on low for 3 minutes until glossy. Set aside to cool.
2. Whisk 250g rice jelly powder into 500g water until smooth, with no lumps.
3. Bring 1000g water to a rolling boil. Pour in the slurry slowly, stirring constantly so it does not catch, and cook until thick and bubbling. Off the heat, keep stirring for 5 minutes so it sets firm.
4. Press the hot batter through a mould or a wide colander so the droplets fall straight into the ice water, where they set clear.
5. Lift the set droplets into bowls, pour over the chilled brown sugar lemon syrup, and serve cold.

Notes

• No rice jelly powder on hand? A rice flour or mung bean starch slurry works, though the bite will be softer.
• Keep the syrup and the droplets separate until serving so the jelly stays firm and clear.

To finish

Liangxia rewards a little planning. Set the droplets and chill the syrup early, then assemble in seconds when you want them. Spoon the bowl over shaved ice for a larger serving, or pair it with a pot of cold oolong. The caramel slab sugar keeps well in the pantry, so the next batch is never far away.

Ship Brand (帆船牌) is the retail line of Yuen Tung Sugar Factory Industrial Company Limited. Sugar refined in Hong Kong since 1948. Shop the collection.