Dishes
Job's tears milk
薏仁漿
Also called: yi ren jiang · adlay milk · coix seed drink
A pale, lightly sweet drink made by simmering Job's tears grains.
What it is
Job's tears, also called adlay, is a grass grain. Shops sometimes sell it as Chinese pearl barley, but it is not barley. Yi ren jiang is the cloudy, sugar-sweetened liquid left from simmering the polished grains. It tastes gentle and slightly sweet.
Where it comes from
The grain turns up in drinks and desserts across East and South-East Asia, from Korean yulmu cha to Japanese hatomugi tea.
How it is made
Whole polished grains are simmered in water and the liquid is sweetened with sugar. The grains are usually strained out, though some versions keep them in.
How to eat it
It goes with breakfast or a snack, and in Kaohsiung with gua bao.
In Kaohsiung
Chun Lan Gua Bao in Kaohsiung offers Job's tears milk and almond soy milk as the drinks to go with its pork buns.
Where to eat it in Kaohsiung
Sources