What it is
Job's tears milk (薏仁漿, yi ren jiang) is the cloudy liquid left from simmering Job's tears grains, sweetened with sugar. Job's tears, also called adlay, is a grass grain. Shops often sell it as Chinese pearl barley, though true barley belongs to a different genus. The 'milk' describes the colour; the drink is mild and faintly sweet.
Where it came from
Job's tears was among the earliest grains people domesticated. Traces in Japan have been dated to about 4000 BC, and pottery residue from north-central China suggests it was brewed into beer with barley around 3000 BC. Legend credits the Han general Ma Yuan with bringing seeds back to China from a posting in Cochin China, and one cultivated variety, ma-yuen, carries his name. Chinese medicine counts the grain as slightly cold and uses it to drain 'dampness' (利水滲濕) and strengthen the spleen.
The wild plant's native range reaches Taiwan, but farming there is scattered, mainly in Daya (大雅) in Taichung and in Changhua and Chiayi. About 90 per cent of what Taiwan eats is imported from Thailand. Related grain drinks appear across the region, from Korean yulmu cha to Japanese hatomugi tea.
How it is made
Whole polished grains are simmered in water until the liquid turns thin and cloudy. The liquid is then sweetened with sugar. Whole-grain red adlay (紅薏仁), which keeps its reddish-brown bran, is used for a whole-grain version.
How to eat it
Ask for yi ren jiang (薏仁漿). It is mild and only lightly sweet, so it sits easily beside savoury food. In Kaohsiung it is one of the drinks offered with gua bao (pork-belly buns).
Around Taiwan
- Kaohsiung
- Chun Lan Gua Bao (春蘭割包), known since 2000 for its oversize gua bao, offers Job's tears milk and almond soy milk as the drinks to go with them.
- Central
- Taichung's agricultural research station has developed a whole-grain drink from Taiwan-grown red adlay that keeps the reddish-brown bran. The method has been licensed to private firms for commercial production.
