Tanghulu skewers also known as bingtanghulu, are delicious crunchy candied fruits, a popular snack in northern China. Candied strawberries, or other fruits, dipped in thick simple syrup for a sweet and sour treat.
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❤️ Why You'll Love It
This is an easy recipe for a delicious, crunchy sweet and sour treat. Beautiful candied fruits on skewers that are like no other. Versatile and makes a beautiful center piece for your party.
You can use many fruits in this recipe, I've tried many types and I will tell you what worked best. This recipe does not use corn syrup though, I used honey instead.
📝 Ingredients
You will need:
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🥄 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The detailed instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Start by threading the fruits into long bamboo skewer. I recommend one or two fruit per skewer.
- In a small pot over medium heat bring sugar, water and honey to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the sugar water mixture reaches 300F to 315F. You will need to use a candy thermometer.
- Now you will need to move quickly, tilt your pan and dip the fresh fruit and let it drip excess syrup. Roll in ice bath (iced water) to cool quickly and harden so that the desired candy shell is formed.
- Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and let it finish hardening. Fruits should harden very quickly.
💡Tips
- I recommend one or two fruit per skewer depending on the size, for blueberries use more of course as they are smaller. I've put three strawberries on a skewer and it was hard to dip in the syrup.
- You will need to move quickly that's why it is better to prepare your fruits before making the syrup. Or else you will find the syrup starts to cool down and it will crystalize and will harden into a sandy mixture almost instantly. I've tried to revive it with no avail unfortunately.
- Fruits need to make completely dry before dipping them in the hot sugar syrup.
- It is crucial to use a thermometer, I need to tell you that when I left the syrup at 285F the syrup did not harden enough on the fruits. Temperature needs to reach 300F to 315F, i.e the hard-crack stage this way the sugar coating will harden and becomes brittle.
💬 FAQs
Tanghulu is a traditional winter snack in Northern China. This street food is sold in markets and is usually made with hawthorn berries. The reason it is a winter treat is that summer heat does not allow the sugar coating to harden enough.
I've tried many fruits and we liked those made with berries and grapes more. Oranges, cuties work very well too. We did not like apples and bananas as Tanghulu is best made with sour and juicy fruits. I've tried to use kiwi and pineapples but could not manage to make the syrup stick to these fruits.
I really like them on the same day or to consume them within 24 hours. Many says that Tanghulu can be stored in an air-tight containers in the fridge up to two weeks but my guess is the fruits will not hold that much.
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If you like this recipe do not forget to give it a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ star rating and attach a photo of your finished dish. It is always a pleasure of mine to see your photos and check your own take of the recipe. Thank you.
Tanghulu Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ pound to 1 pound fruits of choice depends on the size, for strawberries use 1 pound (About 8-10 large strawberries)
For the syrup:
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2 Tablespoons honey
Instructions
- Clean fruits thoroughly in cold water and let them dry completely before starting.
- Thread the fruits in bamboo skewers. One or two per skewer depending on the size.
Make the Syrup:
- In a saucepan put sugar, water and honey then stir to combine.
- Bring the sugar water to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer the sugar mixture until a candy thermometer reads 300 degrees to 315F. This will take about 20 minutes.
Make the Tanghulu:
- Remove pot from heat and work quickly. Tilt you pan and dip the fruit(s) to cover , let it drip excess syrup.
- Roll in iced water to cool quickly and harden. The point here is to make a hard cracj sugar coating for the fruits.
- Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and let it finish hardening.
- Fruits should harden very quickly and the coating should be shattering hard.
Notes
- I recommend one or two fruit per skewer depending on the size, for blueberries use more of course as they are smaller. I've put three strawberries on a skewer and it was hard to dip in the syrup.
- You will need to move quickly that's why it is better to prepare your fruits before making the syrup. Or else you will find the syrup starts to cool down and it will crystalize and will harden into a sandy mixture almost instantly. I've tried to revive it with no avail unfortunately.
- Fruits need to be completely dry before dipping them in the hot sugar syrup.
- You can use literally other kinds of fruits to make this favorite Chinese street food. Some people like using cuties, dragon fruit, pineapples, cuties or any sour fruits. I find it hard to use some of these fruits because of the moisture.
- It is crucial to use a thermometer, I need to tell you that when I left the syrup at 285F the syrup did not harden enough on the fruits. Temperature needs to reach 300F to 315 degrees F, i.e the hard crack stage this way the sugar coating will harden and becomes brittle.
Nutrition
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Jenn
At first, I thought it would never get to temp. It definitely was sticky when we tried it before it was ready. After patiently waiting for it to get to 300 and it worked! Very yummy and fun to do as a family. We can’t wait to try it with more fruits!
Angie
I forgot the honey but the fruit was delicious-but the fruit soon started dripping and the sugar was melting off.
Suggestions
Gil
Way to sticky, not hard candy
Amira
Not sure what happened with you Gil, sorry it did not work for you.