Hasma (harsmar, hashima) is a

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of v ...

and widely Central Asian

dessert Dessert is a course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as confections, and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. In some parts of the world, such as much of Greece and West Africa, and most parts o ...

ingredient made from the dried fatty tissue found near the

fallopian tube The fallopian tubes, also known as uterine tubes, oviducts or salpinges (singular salpinx), are paired tubes in the human female that stretch from the uterus to the ovaries. The fallopian tubes are part of the female reproductive system. In ...

s of

true frog True frogs is the common name for the frog family Ranidae. They have the widest distribution of any frog family. They are abundant throughout most of the world, occurring on all continents except Antarctica. The true frogs are present in North Am ...

s, typically the

Asiatic grass frog The Asiatic grass frog or Chinese brown frog (''Rana chensinensis'') is a species of frog in the family Ranidae, found in China and Mongolia. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, intermittent rivers, swamps, freshwater lakes, intermitten ...

(''Rana chensinensis''). Because of its whitish appearance, hasma is often called "snow frog fat". Hasma is relatively expensive, so it is reserved for special occasions and in high-end restaurants.

Production

Hasma is produced primarily in the

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...

Jilin Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea ( Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (P ...

, and Liaoning provinces in China. Previously part of

Chinese imperial cuisine Chinese imperial cuisine is derived from a variety of cooking styles of the regions in China, mainly from the cuisines of Shandong and Jiangsu provinces. The style originated from various Emperors' Kitchen and the Empress Dowagers' Kitchen, and i ...

, soups made with hasma are now widely available in North American cities with large Chinese populations and in

Mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater Chin ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, albeit at a high price.

Physical characteristics

Hasma is sold dried as irregular flat pieces and flakes ranging from 1–2 cm in length and 1–5 mm in thickness. Individual pieces are yellowish-white in color with a matte luster, and may be covered with off-white pellicles. When rehydrated, dried hasma can expand up to 10-15 times in size. The dried hasma is rehydrated and double-boiled with

rock sugar Rock candy or sugar candy, also called rock sugar, or crystal sugar, is a type of confection composed of relatively large sugar crystals. This candy is formed by allowing a supersaturated solution of sugar and water to crystallize onto a ...

to create a glutinous texture and opaque color. Dried or rehydrated hasma has a slight fishy smell. In its unflavored form it is sweet and slightly savory in taste with a texture that is glutinous, chewy, and light, quite similar to that of

tapioca Tapioca (; ) is a starch extracted from the storage roots of the cassava plant (''Manihot esculenta,'' also known as manioc), a species native to the North and Northeast regions of Brazil, but whose use is now spread throughout South America. ...

in a dessert.

Preparation

Hasma serves the role of providing texture to

tong sui ''Tong sui'' (; ), also known as ''tim tong'', is a collective term for any sweet, warm soup or custard served as a dessert at the end of a meal in Cantonese cuisine. ''Tong sui'' are a Cantonese specialty and many varieties are rarely fou ...

, or sweet soups, as well as increasing the perceived luxuriousness and prestige of the soup. These soups are usually flavored with

. For the uninitiated, this relatively accessible eating experience belies the exotic sounding nature of the dessert. Hasma is widely featured in dessert dishes in high class restaurants in Hong Kong. Hasma is most commonly paired in sweet soups with: *

Jujube Jujube (), sometimes jujuba, known by the scientific name ''Ziziphus jujuba'' and also called red date, Chinese date, and Chinese jujube, is a species in the genus '' Ziziphus'' in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. Description It is a smal ...

s () *Dried

longan ''Dimocarpus longan'', commonly known as the longan () and dragon's eye, is a tropical tree species that produces edible fruit. It is one of the better-known tropical members of the soapberry family Sapindaceae, to which the lychee and rambu ...

fruits () *

Lotus seed A lotus seed or lotus nut is the seed of plants in the genus '' Nelumbo'', particularly the species ''Nelumbo nucifera''. The seeds are used in Asian cuisine and traditional medicine. Mostly sold in dried, shelled form, the seeds contain rich co ...

s () It is also a key ingredient in making "Three snow soup" (), which consists of: * Chinese pear () *

Snow fungus ''Tremella fuciformis'' is a species of fungus; it produces white, frond-like, gelatinous basidiocarps (fruiting bodies). It is widespread, especially in the tropics, where it can be found on the dead branches of broadleaf trees. This fungus is c ...

() Hasma can also be included in more exotic versions of

shark fin soup Shark fin soup is a traditional soup or stewed dish served in parts of China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. The shark fins provide texture, while the taste comes from the other soup ingredients. It is commonly served at special occasions such as ...

Health claims

Hasma is taken for medicinal purposes in

traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medicine, alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logica ...

. Hasma is prescribed to treat respiratory symptoms, but there exists scarce scientific research to support this practice. It is also a suggested remedy for stomach ulcers and to improve the appearance of skin, and even for restored strength after childbirth.

References

{{reflist

External links

Hasma recipesDescription of a meal with Hasma
(in Chinese) Chinese desserts Offal