Tanghulu!!
Famous snacks of all time. It's sweet and crispy from outside. It's soft and fruity from inside. Some say it's Chinese and some say it's Korean. Not too sure what it is. It's not just Thai that I'm sure. So popular among ASMR eating sounds and Mukbang channel because of how satisfied the sound when biting into it is. Well, also because it's so delicious and enjoyable.
Tang hulu, also called bingtang hulu, is a traditional Northern Chinese snack of candied Crataegus pinnatifida more on wiki
I have always been tempting to make ones of these Tanghulu but never had a chance because all the recipes I found includes corn syrup that it's not so easy to find around here. The other day, I found one recipe on TikTok that I would need just 3 ingredients and corn syrup is not one of them so, let's do this!
Wash and dry your choice of fruits
Normally, I think strawberry is the most popular one people use for this snack. Some other things that can be dried out from outside work too so I went with the black grapes that I had in the fridge. Wash it well and pad dry.
Stick them on skewers
Normally people use bamboo skewers but since we had this at home, I just used this. Also, there are only 3 skewers so I put like, 6 long grapes on them which I would say it's a bit too many. Normally they put just 1 to 3 fruits so that it's easier to dip the whole thing in the pan when trying to coat the fruits. Again, pad dry.
Prepare sugar and water
The ratio of sugar to water is 2:1 and mix well before put it on medium heat. Really keep an eye on it and don't let it burn! Like, I did lol. Do not mix it at all until it turns sticky and syrupy. Once it seems to be sticky enough, test by putting skewer in it and dip in iced-water. If it's hard right away then you're good to go.
If you have a thermometer, that's even better. Once it's 300ºF that's the perfect time to dip in your skewered fruits!
Not for too long #lol
I just happened to not have either ice or thermometer so.. my syrup is a little char as I don't know when to stop the heat lol Once it turned brown, that's when I realized, 'Oh! I went a little too far' -0-
Stop the heat immediately and let's dip in some fruits. Cover it real good and maybe use a spoon to help get the liquid all over it.
There you have it, burned tanghulu
Well, it turned hard and really tastes like a burn candy. The color is also a bit too dark than what it's supposed to be so... Though!! Once eat it together with the sweet juicy grapes, not too bad at all. It's so good and no wonder why it has become so popular.
It looks very interesting and the taste the only way is to try to make it look very nice :-)
Haha so hard though