Kudzu Root Powder

Kudzu root powder (gegen fen) is a fine white starch extracted from the tuberous root of the kudzu vine, a mountain climbing plant. Stirred with hot water it sets into a smooth, translucent paste or jelly — a common forest product of western Hunan.

Kudzu has long grown wild across China's hills and has a long history as both food and folk medicine. In the mountains of western Hunan it is abundant, and digging, washing and pounding the root for its starch is a traditional way of turning a forest resource into everyday food.

Most often it is whisked with hot water into a warm, soothing drink; it can also be set as a jelly, stirred into soups, or paired with other starch foods. Locals treat it as a mild, refreshing mountain product good in any season.

Clean, slippery and lightly flavored, it carries a plain mountain character — a humble taste of how western Hunan lives off its hills.