In Vietnam, sương sâm jelly is a type of green grass jelly or leaf jelly made from the leaves of several vines including Tiliacora triandra (smooth-leafed sương sâm, Vietnamese: sương sâm trơn or sương sâm láng), Tiliacora acuminata (hairy-leafed sương sâm, Vietnamese: sương sâm lông), and Cyclea barbata (wild sương sâm, Vietnamese: lá mối or sương sâm rừng). Those sương sâm plants are cultivated in several southern provinces like An Giang and Bến Tre.
To make sương sâm jelly, the Vietnamese grind and crush a good quantity of those fresh leaves with a certain amount of cold filtered water. The mixture will then be strained and they will be congratulated into jelly after an hour or two.
You can choose either dried or fresh sương sâm leaves. Old leaves are better than young ones. In rainy season, the amount of jelly is less than in dry season.
Clove basil seeds (Vietnamese: hạt é) are the seeds from clove basil plant (Ocimum gratissimum). Clove basil seeds are small in size, and look like sesame seeds, but when put to the water, they will absorb water and become swollen.
Warm up (to 70°C/158°F) a pot of 600 ml (2½ cups) water with 50 gr of sugar and some salt. Pour the sugared water into a blender together with sương sâm leaves. Choose the lowest blend option and blend the solution. Do not puree it. Strain the leaf-water solution through a filter bag. Squeeze the bag to get more juice.