Ejiao

Ejiao products for sale in a stall at Jinan Airport

Ejiao (simplified Chinese: 阿胶; traditional Chinese: 阿膠; pinyin: ē jiāo, donkey-hide gelatin) is a traditional kind of glue from Dong'e County, Liaocheng City, Shandong Province, China, made from donkey rawhide. Its main component is protein.

It is mainly used in traditional Chinese medicine, according to which Ejiao improves blood supply, especially for women. The edible form of Ejiao is often mixed with almonds and sesame seeds and served as a snack that is popular in Shandong. It can also be used as an edible coating for dates, producing another type of snack.

In recent few years, Ejiao is getting more and more popular being used as a food material thanks to the polarity of 'Wisdom of not having disease', written by Ms MA Yueling in China. Quite many manufactories produce Ejiao bar called 'Gu Yuan Gao' in Shangdong province. Gu Yuan Gao is a bar made up of Ejiao, almond, sesame, dates and cooking wine.

And it is also well known as the substance used for applying di mo, a special paper-like musical reed membrane, to the dizi, a transverse Chinese flute. Ejiao is quite well suited to the task of applying di mo, since it dries quickly, holds quite firmly, and is water soluble, allowing later replacement of di mo. If Ejiao is not available, a substitute can be improvised by simply crushing garlic into a fine, relatively dry paste, and applying as normal. It should be used quickly.

See also

Dizi bamboo membrane

• Dizi
• Di mo