Healthy/Tasty Dessert, San Gabriel

Healthy/Tasty Dessert

250 W. Valley Blvd, Suite #A
San Gabriel, Ca 91776
(626) 282-8263

This is an Asian dessert and snack place. Now, looking at the name, I bet you are thinking what makes these desserts healthy. Well, let us see.

Most of the desserts here have a lot of fruit. There are fruit puddings, fruit drinks, and other fruit desserts. Well fruit is good for you, but there are other desserts on the menu that have no fruit. Are those healthy? Well, out of all honesty, I do not think that any dessert is healthy and the fact that fruit has so much natural sugar, well that is a diabetics nightmare. No, this is probably not how they got their name. Reason number two: They have a harsmar topping for their desserts. What is that? Let us explore.

Name: Harsmar, hasma, hashima
What is it used for?: it is a Chinese dessert ingredient.
What is it made of?: The dried fallopian tubes of true frogs, usually the Asiatic grass frog. LOVELY~ reproductive organs.
How is it cooked?: re-hydrated and then boiled with rock sugar
Look/texture: gelatinous and opaque in color; chewy and light
Taste: usually no taste, but it is sweet from the sugar
Health benefits: According to wikipedia, harsmar supposedly replenishes the vital essence in the lungs, kidneys, and improving skin complexion. It is also supposed to treat respiratory symptoms like coughing and night swats caused by tuberculosis. But with all good things, there are some warnings, such as young children should not consume this for it may cause early puberty. Funny...I thought that there was a biological aspect to it as well.

Was it tasty? Let us look at the food, shall we...

Spicy crispy chicken
Nice and crispy. I liked the hot peppers that were in it. The only thing I did not like was the burnt flakes if chili and green onions. It was distracting and I could taste the char.

Coconut mango with purple sticky rice and Harsmar

My friend ordered this because she felt like eating something light.

LOOK! It looks so THICK and DENSE

My icy fruit dessert

I forgot what this was called, but it was basically watermelon, mango, kiwi, strawberry, melon balls, and shaved ice. On the bottom of the bowl, there was sago (tapioca) and it was swimming in watermelon juice. YUM. It was pricey but oh so refreshing. Definitely not that healthy, but good especially on a hot day.

YUMMY!

Overall, this place has a pretty fun atmosphere. The tables are Asian wooden tables with stools. I find them very uncomfortable, so I would not want to sit there for that long, but every once in a while, coming here and hanging out is okay.