Fevervine Sweet Porridge 鸡屎藤糊

鸡屎藤 or better known as Fevervine to botanists.  I had been in search of this herb for a long time.  As yucky as it sounds, this herb has a nice fragrance to it just like rosemary or basil to many.

 

I don't know how they derive such an unpleasant name for it.  Since it is a creeper, I think it was found near chicken farms back then.  Just my personal conclusion.

When I was young, I remembered my paternal granny used to make this porridge Fevervine Sweet Porridge 鸡屎藤糊 similar to sesame seed porridge 芝麻粥.  It was really fragrant and yummy despite its looks which have a greenish hue.

It was so good that after so many years after grandma passed on and I am still yearning for it. 

Some years back, I found a stall selling another form (like chendol with sweet soup) but its herb taste was not evident at all.  

I have been searching for this herb the longest despite calling all the nurseries in Singapore until I was desperate to post on my aunt's FB and my BIL told me that Chinatown does sell it. 

The other day, mommy went to Chinatown and she got me a bunch but unfortunately it was way too little for any recipe.

This morning, she surprised me by making another trip down and bought me a big bag of it from another store.   I was happy as it was really fresh and immediately put my research into action.

Learnings: To my memory, I think granny's version has a stronger herb taste than this． As for my family, I think they need to cultivate this taste.  Let’s see whether I have extra to make my dad a bowl for him to compare to his mom’s version.

For those interested who are interested in the benefit of this herb, this is some info I found over the net.  

由于鸡屎藤有清热、解毒、去湿、补血的功能，被民间称为“土参”。作为中草药入药，它能祛风利湿，消食化积，止咳，止痛，还可以用于风湿筋骨痛，跌打损伤等。民间传说，妇女在农历七月初一吃鸡屎藤粿仔汤，还可以补血。在广东清明前后吃上鸡屎藤糍都是非常好的去湿佳品.

Source: 好豆菜谱

What you need:

200g Fevervine (approx 3 bundles), leaves removed with net wt of 87g

100g Chinese Brown Sugar 片糖

1¾ cups water (1 cup + ¾cup)

50g rice flour

½ cup water (to mix rice flour) 

Method:

Remove leaves from fevervine stem.  Pluck as close to the leaf as possible.  Wash and drain.

Put into blender with 1 cup of water and puree until fine.

Sieve and add the remaining water to a pot.

Add in sugar and bring to a boil and let it simmer for 5 mins.

Mix rice flour with ½ cup water to form a paste.

Once fever vine juice boils, add in the rice paste, stirring continuously until bubbles appear.  The mixture should thicken.  Turn off the heat.

Serve hot or warm.

Stay tuned for another recipe with this herb as it was very popular in 大屿山.