Tanghulu

Let’s make this beautifully glossy strawberry tanghulu at home! This popular Chinese street snack is made with fresh strawberries coated in a thin sugar syrup.

Course Appetizer, Appetizer & Sides, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine Chinese

Keyword strawberry tanghulu, strawberry tanghulu recipe, tanghulu, tanghulu recipe

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Total Time 25

Servings skewers

Calories 344kcal

Author Megan

Equipment

Ingredients

25 strawberries washed and stems removed
2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
⅓ cup (120 g) corn syrup
½ cup (125 g) water

Instructions

Prepare the strawberries. Wash the strawberries and dry them completely. Any remaining moisture will prevent the sugar syrup from coating the strawberries. Skewer the strawberries on sticks.
Line a baking sheet. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper set aside.
Cook the candied sugar until 300°F. In a small saucepan, add the sugar, corn syrup, and water. Mix until combined. Place your candy thermometer in the saucepan and cook on medium heat until it reaches 300°F or 150°C WITHOUT STIRRING about 12-15 minutes. The sugar should be lightly golden and bubbling. To test if the sugar is ready without a thermometer, drizzle some hot sugar syrup into ice cold water. If it turns into brittle crystal ribbons that crunches when you bite it then it is ready.
Coat the strawberries. When the temperature is at 300°F or 150°C, turn off the heat, tilt the pot slightly so the syrup pools to one side. Dip and gently twirl the skewered strawberries until completely coated. Allow the excess syrup to drip off before placing the sugared strawberries onto the lined baking sheet. Repeat until all the strawberries are sugared.
Serve. Allow the sugar coating to harden completely before removing from the baking sheet. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Notes

Make sure your fruit is completely dry. This will ensure that sugar syrup will bind and coat the strawberries. Any moisture will prevent the sugar from binding to the fruit leaving an empty gap.
Use a candy thermometer. This takes the guesswork out of how hot the temperature needs to be. You need the temperature to reach exactly 300°F or 150°C for the ultimate hard shell.
Do not stir the sugar when you are heating it. Stirring the sugar can set off a chain reaction that can cause sugar to seize up and crystallize the sugar, ruining the entire batch.
To clean your saucepan, pour the excess sugar mixture into a disposable can, bottle or jar. Then add water to the saucepan and bring it to a boil mix and pour it down the sink. Repeat to remove all the hardened sugar.
For a brighter color add food coloring. If you want your strawberry tanghulu to really pop, you can add 1-2 drops of red food coloring when you add the sugar, water, and corn syrup.

Nutrition