Make The Chinese Tanghulu Recipe With Just 2 Items

Growing up in the old Chinatown district, every time my parents and I would pass a street seller hawking candied hawthorn cherries on sticks, I would ask them for a tanghulu (which looks similar to a homemade tanghulu recipe). With all the confidence of a young boy, I thought these jewel-looking candies had to taste like magical crystals that would make me feel happy and radiant. But my folks were just too practical.

“Tanghulu? They would exclaim, “What an inefficient use of money.”

I never experienced it as a child as a consequence.

I had completely forgotten about those delicious-looking Chinese fruit candies when we moved to the US until I returned for studies.

As I strolled through the busy street markets, I ran with tanghulu merchants once again and was overcome with nostalgia for long-forgotten desires. I decided to reward myself with these sweets right away, but I wasn’t prepared for what transpired next. My parents were correct, after all.

I eagerly snapped into the bite, then recoiled in agony.

Pondering whether I had fractured a tooth. It was painful to have the old sugar cling to my teeth and it was tough. Following that, I decided to share with my 8-year-old sibling the Chinese culinary history by making candied strawberries, which led to the creation of a handmade tanghulu recipe.

I thought this strawberry treat would be a delicious summer fruit recipe, but it was more of a sweet treat than a tough bite.

What is Tanghulu?

Chinese desserts called tanghulu are produced by dipping fruit skewered on bamboo into a sweet coating. Although hawthorn berries are used to produce it historically, other fruits including strawberries, cherries, kiwis, dragon fruit, and pineapple can also be used to make tanghulu.

Northern China celebrates this dessert with festivals that include tanghulu fashioned like hearts or roses.

Many look forward to the tanghulu recipe as part of Chinese New Year celebrations since it is best savored in the winter (summer heat might cause the sugar shell to melt). The gleaming crimson appearance also represents prosperity.

Origins of Tanghulu

The Song Dynasty is thought to have given rise to Tanghulu in northern China. All the court’s doctors battled to find a treatment for the emperor’s cherished concubine when she fell ill with an unexplained ailment.

At last, the monarch summoned an outside physician, who recommended berries from hawthorn cooked in sugar water. The concubine healed remarkably, and word of this sour and sweet cure spread across China.

Courtesy of the World Wide Web, Tanghulu has lately experienced a rise in recognition once more.

If you want more recipes:

The Ingredients

You’ll just need 2 ingredients.

For this homemade tanghulu, use solid, somewhat young strawberries. Juice will spill from soft, ripe berries when they fall off the sticks.
Two portions of granulated sugar to a single part of water is how we produce sweet syrup.

Tips For The Candied Strawberries

Although the recipe for tanghulu appears simple, my brother and I found some helpful hints.

Commence with solid fruit.
Make a wise decision when selecting a saucepan.
Keep the syrup still.
Be cautious.
Proceed swiftly.

Steps To Make The Tanghulu Recipe

Follow these directions.

Take off the strawberry stalks. After washing, let the fruit air dry. Since the syrup won’t stick to damp fruit, the strawberries must be dried well.
Every strawberry should be twisted onto a wooden stick, with the berries facing the skewer ends.
It is acceptable if there is just one strawberry on each skewer, but you might be capable of putting two on each. If there are too many strawberries on each skewer, it will be harder to submerge the fruit in the syrup.
Stir the syrup and water together in a big, heavy pot. Do not stir while you bring the contents to a boil. Bring the mixture to a temperature of 300° to 310°F using a candy thermometer while whisking continuously over moderate heat. The syrup should be taken off the burner.
Berries should be dipped into the syrup rapidly. After that, put the stick on a baking surface covered with paper. Until the sugar hardens, let them rest for two or three minutes. Serve right away.

Variations

Your tanghulu recipe may vary by:

Making it with other fruits.
Adding corn syrup.
Adding extra flavor and hue.

How To Store

Tanghulu is best consumed right away because the candy coating will harden with time. Tanghulu keeps for up to three days in the refrigerator when kept in a sealed bag. Certain fruits don’t store well since the simmering syrup partially cooks them, but fruits that are harder and less juicy work best for tanghulu.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

These are:

Is a candy thermometer necessary to create tanghulu?

Tanghulu can be made without a candy thermometer, while they are useful tools in the sweet-making process. To find out when the sugar syrup is at the hard-crack stage without a thermometer, do the cold-water testing.

Pour some cold water into a small glass dish and submerge a metal spatula into the heated syrup. A tiny bit of syrup should be dropped into the chilly water. In the water, the syrup should clump together and keep its firm yet flexible texture.

What makes tanghulu sticky as opposed to crispy?

Make sure the syrup is cooked to the right heat if your tanghulu recipe is tacky or adheres to your teeth. If the fruit achieves the soft-crack phase, the syrup will still adhere to it, but it will become sticky.

Make The Chinese Tanghulu Recipe With Just 2 Items