February 3, 2017

Bing Tanghulu Candied Hawthorn Stick 冰糖葫蘆

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Gosh darn-namit...I'm super excited about these!  For up to a thousand dusty long years, on any street corner in China might be found a street vendor holding a wood pole spiked with these traditional candy fruit skewers for children.  And since they are a lovely lucky red color and a beautifully rounded symbol of happiness and family reunion, they are especially popular during the Chinese New Year celebrations when all children would get one of these as an extra special treat!  

Besides being super cool and fun to eat and super yummilicious to boot, these lovely traditional Chinese hard caramel coated fruit skewers also have the coolest name: Bing Tanghulu Candied Hawthorn Stick or 冰糖葫蘆.

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A lot of these traditional street snacks are harder and harder to find in Hong Kong, thanks in most part to the dedicated efforts of the Hong Kong government to eradicate all signs of street life (thanks a lot HK Gov't.)  It's just embarrassing when folks ask me about street food in Hong Kong and I kinda have to just mumble and avert my eyes.

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Display for Bing Tanghulu food stall

It was good, then, to discover that there where a lot of Bing Tanghulu Candied Hawthorn Stick food stalls this year at the Chinese New Year Flower Market!  This annual market is held during the week leading up to the Chinese New Year and is crammed with stalls selling everything you never thought you needed for celebrating the new year.  And lots of food too, naturally, this being a Chinese festival.  

Anyways this was the first time I have ever seen these Bing Tanghulu for sale in Hong Kong!  I was super excited because we were making it at home as well.  And the great news is that lots of folks at the Flower Market were buying and enjoying the Bing Tanghulu.  Which is because... drumrrrrroll ...they are delicious!  And made of fruit!  

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The traditional Bing Tanghulu are made with the Chinese hawthorn, or 山楂, which are rather like crab apples, tart, small and kinda sweet.  For more on hawthorns see our post on the Chinese Hawthorn.

These little fruits are really hard to find in Hong Kong, usually I only find dried hawthorn which is delectable in all kinds of healthy teas.  So that is why when I found this batch of fresh hawthorns I knew right away that I had to try to make Bing Tanghulu with them.  

But don't worry if you can't find hawthorns, I figured a tasty way out of this problem (to be explained in a bit.)

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Sugar and water
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Check sugar temperature

The trick to this seriously yummy fruit stick is the coat of caramel.  The caramel coat must be thin and hard and completely covering the fruit.  If you can't get this right you'll end up with a very, very sticky mess.  Which, incidentally, is what happened to my first Bing Tanghulu sticks.  Boo-hoo...I'm afraid I teared up a bit cuz I ruined my lovely fruit candy sticks.  

And then...arrgh...I couldn't for the life of me find any more hawthorns tho' we searched high and low.  

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But first let me go over what went wrong.  Two things.  First of all the sugar.  I have been at war with sugar recently, having failed miserably at a couple of big sugar projects that I attempted, and am determined to conquer this business of transforming sugar in all kinds of delightful ways.  

For the Bing Tanghulu the sugar had to be transformed into the 'hard crack' sugar stage which is a stage where the sugar is caramelized and heated to the point where it will instantaneously harden upon hitting cooler temperatures.  For Bing Tanghulu it means that a hard non-sticky caramel shell will form around the fruit.  On my first try I did not heat to proper temperature and thus my caramel did not harden.  Thus sticky icky mess...  

Solution, duh, use a food thermometer that works.  (I got myself a new thermometer that I can use from the lowest temps to the highest that I'm loving.)

The second thing was pretty stupid of me, I have to admit.  I spooned the caramel onto my fruit skewer as you can see from the photo above.  Doing this took too long and I ended up cooking some of the fruit too much and juices were extruded as a result.  Watery and sticky, icky mess...ugh.  

I think the lesson here is to arrange the hot caramel so that your fruit sticks will be able to dip in and out of the caramel quite quickly.  And...umm...be careful, I learned the hard way that while caramel is really pretty to look at it is really, really, really hot to touch.  (Did you know that soy sauce is soothing on burns?)

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And because I could not find anymore of those darn hawthorns, I decided to use strawberries as a substitute.  Which actually is what a lot of hawkers do nowadays anyways.  And boy am I glad that I got to do this cuz while hawthorns are good in Bing Tanghulu, strawberries are phenomenal!  And you don't have to eat around the seeds like with the hawthorn. 

I bought strawberries that looked ripe but disappointingly tasted kinda 'meh.'  But what do ya know, when the strawberries are dipped in and out the heat of the caramel cooks the fruit just a wee bit.  And that, along with the thin crunchy caramel shell (yeah, I did it!) made the taste of the strawberry Bing Tanghulu so yummilicious it was out of this world!  

Tasted like, I don't know, ripe to bursting strawberries picked from the field still warm from the afternoon sun.  Or something wonderful like that.  It was real good.

This time I made shorter fruit sticks that I was able to dip in and out of my caramel quite quickly.  I used a thermometer to gauge the 'hard crack' stage of the caramelizing sugar.  And it worked like a charm.  

The caramel formed a clear hard non sticky shell all around my Bing Tanghulu Candied Hawthorn Stick.  A lovely shell that cracked open with a delightful crunch when bitten, releasing sweet juices and a shattering of crunchy toffee bits into my mouth. 

Bing Tanghulu really is quite a remarkable traditional Chinese snack, as wonderful and unique as it ever was and even better, if I may say, than a lot of snack foods invented nowadays.  Hope you all enjoy your own Bing Tanghulus!

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Bing Tanghulu Candied Hawthorn Stick Recipe 冰糖葫蘆
Prep time: 10 mins   Cook time: 20 mins   (adapted from here)

Ingredients:

Directions:

Prepare 2 baking sheets covered with parchment paper or with silicone mat.

 If using strawberries use a sharp paring knife to first hull the leafy bits.  Wash fruit and dry thoroughly until completely dry.  Skewer three fruits on each skewer, taking care not to twist them or move them too much so as not to loosen the fruit's grip on the skewer.  If loosened the fruit will swing around when being dipped in caramel, making it hard to evenly coat all sides.

In a medium saucepan heat the sugar and water.  Stir until the sugar dissolves and then add the corn syrup.  Bring to a boil, do not stir anymore.  Keep at a low boil, swirling the pot occasionally, until it reaches 340°F (171°C) and a golden amber color,  about 15-20 mins.  Remove from heat.  

Angle your pan so that the caramel is more accessible and then dip your skewered fruit quickly in and out of the caramel, twisting to get the coating to completely cover the fruit.  Be careful of touching the caramel, it's hot!  

Place dipped skewers onto parchment paper to cool.  If your caramel cools too much while working just reheat over low heat to proper temperature, remove from heat and continue.

Eat immediately for tastiest results.  Can keep at room temp for around 6 hours.

Tip:  You can use other kinds of fruits too:  cranberries, orange segments (membranes on), grapes, cherry tomatoes,  etc.

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34 comments:

  1. Hi, I have a question. Do you know how long tanghulu can sit out for after being made before the coating gets messy/ruined?

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    1. Hi suga - these tanghulu can keep at room temp for around 6 hours, maybe a bit less if humid ~ellen

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  2. can you refrigerate them? how long will they keep then?

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    1. I would not refrigerate, it will make the coating wet and sticky. I think you can freeze them and keep for a while though. ~ellen

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  3. Thank you for your great recipe! It worked like a charm and we were able to make bing tanghulu that were just like the ones we ate at home in Beijing!

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  4. Can you use crab apples instead of Hawthorne or strawberry?

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  5. Are there any types of fruit you do not recommend using?

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    1. Hum...should be fruit of similar size to hawthrones or able to be sectioned to that size. Fruit should be contained in a skin or be firm. Can use cranberries, orange segments (membranes on), grapes, cherry tomatoes, pineapple segments, etc. ~ellen

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  6. Absolutely love your recipe they came out awesome in grapes and dried kiwi

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    1. Wonderful, thanks for letting us know! ~ellen

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  7. Replies
    1. I've only ever seen it at the Chinese New Year Fair in Victoria Park. Anyone else seen it elsewhere?~ellen

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  8. Have you tried candied plums im making them this week

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    1. No we haven't, but it sounds delish! Let me know how it turns out! ~ellen

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  9. Just made this today! The cooking temp was too high (about 325*F was perfect) but the recipe was DELICIOUS!

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  10. Wah, I really really really need to try this sometime.... (drools)

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    1. Hee hee...try it do, it's yummy, esp. the strawberries!

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  11. Thank you so much for your recipe and all the notes as well. I tried this on Mexican Hawthorne which has the same test but is brown not red as well as strawberries and apples. It is sooo good!

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    1. So happy it turned out yummy for you! I'll have to keep an eye out for mexican hawthrones - I've never tried them! ~ellen

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  12. If I freeze them and take them out do the candy melt while unthawing the fruit?

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    1. Hi Sarah - while I've never frozen them myself, having eaten them all in one go! - however, the ones on sale at new years fair and so on are always kept in the freezer. They are sold straight out of the freezer and eaten. I think the unthawing takes place very quickly, a few minutes and it's ready so there's no problem with melting. ~ellen

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  13. Hi! I just wanted to thank you so much for this recipe. My little kids and I had just read the book Little Pear and the story talks about how much he enjoyed these. Your recipe worked perfectly and my kids loved them!

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    1. Hi Ashley - I just checked out the little book, what an adorable story! So glad that you and your kids could enjoy these wonderful fruit/candies! ~ellen

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  14. This is has such a great nostalgic taste! It reminds me of my youthful school days...dang, I must be so old

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  15. Hi dearest- remember that youth is in the heart and the tastebuds! 😆ellen

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  16. Oh yes! This is one of the favourites for our kids! But I believe they were kept as a frozen treat. When hiking on Lamma island and reaching the top (viewpoint)!
    There was a couple who sold ice creams, caramelised strawberries on a stick, frozen slices of pineapple and such! Such a lovely memory! We have seen these caramelised strawberry sticks in Taiwan too, at the evening markets!

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  17. Hey lls - yes, if you want to keep the tanghulu you would need to keep it in the freezer and it is often offered as a frozen treat. But I prefer the freshly made, especially the strawberries, they are out of this world yummy! ~ellen

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  18. Can this still be found in Hong Kong?

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    1. I have only seen it sold once, at the CNY flower fair/festival at Victoria Park in CWB. They sold it frozen, tho, and I didn't try it so don't know if it was the same as fresh. It's a shame, really, as they are a wonderful street food. ~ellen

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  19. Tanghulu candy You only heat the sugar, let it brown lightly then add water, some more simmering until caramelized.
    Then you dip the fruit in coating it lightly then you put it in cold water right away that's what hardens the candy. there to be eaten right away is best.

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  20. The cold water sounds like a good trick. Must try next time! But it also works if you let the caramel cool naturally too. ~ellen

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