Street Snack · Candied Skewers

Tanghulu (糖葫芦) — Candied Hawthorn Skewers

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The hard candy shell is dipped so fast it sets in seconds — crack it open and the fruit inside can still be cold from the winter air.

Whole hawthorn berries (or grapes, strawberries, and other fruit) are skewered on a bamboo stick, dunked in molten sugar syrup, and cooled until the coating turns into a thin, glassy shell. Vendors carry bundles of them upright in foam blocks, and the deep red color makes them one of the most recognizable sights of a Beijing winter street.

Why it's made this way: Sugar-coating fruit was originally a way to preserve tart, hard-to-eat hawthorns through the cold months, and the sour fruit balances the intensely sweet shell.