If you’ve got 15 minutes and a sweet tooth aching to be satisfied this traditional Chinese street treat is perfect.
Tanghulu (糖葫芦) is candied fruit on a stick. In The Know’s AmiLin McClure made this simple confection with strawberries, sugar and water. Not only is Tanghulu a tasty, minimalist snack, but the colorful glazed berries also look stunning — it will definitely make your friends on Instagram have some serious food FOMO.
“Tanghulu is a Chinese dessert or snack, basically like candied fruit on a stick,” AmiLin said. “It’s typically sold at markets, zoos and by street vendors in China. Traditionally it’s made with Hawthorn berries that are stacked on top of one another but today I’m just gonna make an easier version and go with strawberries.”
What you’ll need:
- 20 skewers
- 20 strawberries
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 cups sugar
First, AmiLin poured the sugar into a nonstick saucepan. Then she poured the water on top. She turned the heat up and melted the mixture together.
“Make sure you don’t mix it though because you don’t want any clumps,” AmiLin said. “You want more of a syrup.”
AmiLin also had a helpful protip in case you wanted to check the temperature of the syrup without a thermometer.
“Get a glass of ice water, take your spoon and dip it in there and then dip it into the syrup. If it comes out and hardens right away, you know it’s ready,” she said.
Next, she placed a strawberry on a skewer and dipped it into the mixture.
“You’ll want to make sure that it’s fully coated in syrup and then you’ll take it out,” AmiLin said. “But you want to make sure you do it quickly so that the syrup doesn’t burn and the strawberries don’t cook.”
Lastly, AmiLin let the strawberries cool and the sugar harden.
“These were so easy to make and they look beautiful,” AmiLin said before biting into one of the candied strawberries. “It’s so good.”
If you liked this story, check out In The Know’s video of our editors trying TikTok’s famous “homemade Dr. Pepper” hack.
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