Although known as chinese pearl barley, this popular chinese food has no connection to barley. They are not even from the same genus.
The scientific name is coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen 薏苡仁 (Yiyi ren) or 薏仁 (Yiren) or 薏米 (Yimi).
Coix lachryma-jobi L. has a folk name: Job's tears and coix seeds and there are 2 varieties. One variety is commonly used as beads in jewelry making. The other variety is ma-yuen, the subject of this page. From what I know, it doesn't have a common English name, and because it bears a slight resemblance to pearled barley 小麦仁 (xiaomai ren) and is most commonly grown in China, it has been called the chinese pearl barley.
The chinese believes that the coix seeds are diuretic, anti-swelling, pus-expelling and cooling. It is therefore most commonly recommended to people suffering from stiff and painful joints, rheumatism, warts and eczema. Findings from recent scientific research conducted by Japanese scientists have been positive.
As mentioned, with the slight resemblance, pearled barley has been frequently mistaken as chinese pearl barley. In Singapore, many food packages mis-translated pearled barley (小麦仁) as chinese pearl barley (薏米). It means that if you wanted to buy chinese pearl barley, you might end up with pearled barley instead. Apparently this problem is fairly widespread.
It is important to be able to differentiate the two if you intend to consume job's tears for its curative and medicinal properties. To clear the air, here are 2 pictures of the 2 grains.
The photo on top is that of the chinese pearl barley and the one below is pearled barley. See the difference?
The coix seeds are usually prepared in soups or congee as it is a grain and requires boiling. Here are some recipes.
- Sweet barley recipe with lotus seeds and red dates
- Barley soup recipe with chinese pearl barley, pork, taro and rice
- Coix seeds drink for lupus patients
- Barley and mung bean porridge
If you would like to try making something with this grain, you can buy the Hato Mugi - Jobs Tears - Gluten-Free Heirloom Quality Kosher Certified -17.6OZ from Home Naturals, Inc at Amazon.
It is all natural, with no chemicals added. Every grain is hand selected.
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