Hasma is variously described as frog fat, frog eggs, frog roe, or the frogs reproductive glands. This rare food is from a particular member of the frog family, not the common frog, though it is common in Jinlin and some northern regions. It is, as this very old lady described, frog that they catch close to winter usually before or during the first snow because it goes into hibernation after mid-autumn. Because they do, they need lots of nutrients, especially fats, to tide them through and prepare the females to lay lots of eggs.? She went on to advise that, These white bellied frogs mate and have their fertilized eggs ready come spring. 

 

Chinese forest frog(中国林蛙Zhōngguó línwā) is called Hashima in the Man Nationality language. Because its meat is as delicate as chicken, it is renamed(if you rename something, you change its name to a new name) frog. It belongs to amphibian ranid. It lives in the bushes of the hillside in spring, summer and winter and in winter; it hibernates under the rock in the deep water. The meat of the frog is sweet, cool and intoxicated and contains profuse protein, sugar, moisture and a little fat. And it tastes delicious, fresh in spring and fragrant in summer. Thus, it is the cate of each season.

Frogs were mentioned as one of the many animal foods of ancient China. Much later, in the Qing Dynasty, restaurants were famous for serving them; they were very popular. There is one particular frog, the snow frog, also known as the Chinese forest frog, the white frog, and the winter frog that is still a mystery to some while to others, they wonder if it really is a frog.

In several Chinese supermarkets, when trying to find a special part of this frog, and having the written characters in hand in case my pronunciation was not understood, the common response was: Hasma, what is that; is it animal or a vegetable?? On one occasion, an elderly passer-by replied in Chinese then in flawless English, that is a snow fungus, and you will find it in the freezer aisle.? It was a week-end day and the aisles were crowded. Several folk nearby stayed and listened as she replied to a query from someone in the crowd, can you describe it in detail to this American woman?? She did, and as I left that aisle, one middle-aged Chinese man came over and said, Thank you for asking that Grandmother, I heard my own describe having eaten hasma and I never knew what she was talking about.