Everyone (Nah, not really) knows Boba Tea as it's quite famous but hey, have you heard about 'Ai Yu'??
The mysterious Taiwanese Dessert..
I am currently traveling in Taiwan. I got to the country like a week ago and been trying many different type of food from street food to restaurants. The first day exploring Taipei, Taiwan, a Taiwanese friend and I went to Elephant Mountain. At the bottom of the mountain, there's this place selling bowls of something. Something clear and a bit yellowish. Something liquidy and you could slurp it right off the bowls.
I was wondering 'What's that?' I asked a Taiwanese friend.
'How to explain.. it's like a jelly you see..'
I thought it was a boring type kinda jelly
That was the end of the conversation so no, I didn't feel like this type of jelly was so interesting at all. It's probably something people consume when they're dehydrated after the hikes and the heat of Taipei (Oh man!).
Pineapple and lime 'Ai Yu'
Here're the flavors we could choose and I went for pineapple one. They put some of sweeten pineapple into the bowl, the jelly, a bit of ice then little bit of shredded lime peel.
That was actually something called 'Ai Yu' .. Like a jelly, super duper soft jelly..
Ai Yu is way cooler than I thought!
When we went to one of Taiwanese night markets in Taipei, I walked pass this drink vendor and got caught up by this weird looking fruit.. Exactly like this..
Oops, didn't take a photo of it so.. Source
It's actually soooooo new to me. I had never seen it elsewhere before so I was curious.. 'What's this?' and @catwomanteresa was actually the one that answered me..
'It's a fruit that you can just squeeze it and the jelly came out..'
Whoa!! That made it a bit more interesting but still, not the right answer as I found out from another Taiwanese friend I met the day after.
How to make a natural jelly from Ai Yu
She told me that we could peel it's skin off and use the seeds (the white little things look pretty much like white sesame.. Wow what an imagination I have here! LOL). Put all the seeds in the cotton cloth and wash it in water till the water turns a bit yellowish and sticky.. Leave it for half an hour, there you have it! NATURAL JELLY from Ai Yu!!!
Here's the video I found on Youtube that I enjoyed watching it till the end. (Yes! I was that interested that I searched how to make it :D )
Oh! Ai Yu, you're so light and refreshing
This is the one from the shop at the night market.. (40NT$ = 1.30 USD)
They usually mix it with lime juice and black sugar syrup.. so just reading this, you probably can feel that it's soooooo refreshing.
Because of Taiwan's HEAT and HUMIDITY.. People could go crazy easily with the weather but wait..
"a cup of Ai Yu would for sure cool you down and lower the risk of you going insane.. really.."
I sure became addicted. At least, when I'm still here in Taiwan.. A cup of Ai Yu a day, keep insanity away.. Boo!
Try it when you got a chance!
Lots of lots of love,
Mo ❤
@waybeyondpadthai
https://www.waybeyondpadthai.com
We would love to talk to you ! Come say Hi ! on Fundition Discord server | eSteem Discord server
@waybeyondpadthai on Steemit | Fundition Angel
Join a community where you could spread the love**
It's almost STEEM FEST 3! Consider using my referal links for.. CHEAP FLIGHTS | INEXPENSIVE PLACES TO STAY | OH YEAH!