Aiyu jelly

Aiyu is a soft Taiwanese jelly made by extracting pectin from the tiny fruits commonly called aiyu seeds. The fruits develop after the plant’s female flowers are pollinated. When they are soaked and rubbed in water, their pectin combines with calcium ions in the water, forming a structure that holds water and sets into jelly. The aiyu plant and its pollinating wasp depend on one another: the wasp pollinates the flowers, while the plant provides space and nourishment for the wasp’s development.^[2]

In the hand-made preparation described by the agricultural research station, the dried fruits are enclosed in a fine cloth bag and rubbed under water to release the pectin. The liquid is then left undisturbed to set, rather than boiled to make a jelly. Calcium in the water matters to this process; the station advises against distilled or reverse-osmosis water. The finished jelly can be cut into pieces and served with lemon syrup.^[1]