Chinese New Year is one of my favorite holidays of all time for many different reasons. Married couples or the elders would give out red packets with money to the kids. It’s one of those special times in the year where being a kid actually has a great advantage. My primary reason for loving this holiday is that this period is the only time in the year where “New Year” candies are made. Eating candies is supposed to bring you a “sweet” new year full of prosperities and good luck. These candies are not year round commodities so even if you have a craving for them in the summer they would not be found in the stores. Many candies are made from fruits and seeds. There are the slightly roasted watermelon seeds, sweeten lotus seeds, sugar coated dried squash, ginger, coconuts and many more delicious confections.
My favorite candy is the sugar coated coconut strips. First, old coconuts are selected from trees and the thick albuminous endosperm, more commonly known as the coconut "meat" (the white and fleshy edible part) is separated from the rest of the seed. Old coconuts are preferred because the young ones have really fragile and loose meat which could not be made into candies. The coconut meat is then processed into thin strips and sugars and colors are added to them. They are really colorful and truly tasty. I will try to bring some candies to class tomorrow because in my opinion a picture or in this case tasting is worth a thousand words. If anyone has ever tasted these candies before, I would love to hear your impression of them.
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4 comments:
I haven't had these particular candies but reading this article reminded me of a particular type of candy that I had in England that my uncle used to make. I used to hate the taste of coconut. The candies that my uncle made were cut into thin strips and then soaked in a water-based broth with flavoring and sugar. Then the coconut was covered with chocolate and caramel. I think he called them "sugar worms" but ever since having those, I've had a better appreciation for coconut products.
Wow! These candies seem delicious. I have never heard about them before. I was wondering how come other countries do not imitate these candies and just sell them year around in their respective countries. Anyways, I hope you bring these candies in tommorrow. I am really curious as to how they taste.
I'm not sure if what I had is the same as what you are describing, but what I had were short strips of coconut that were about as thick as bacon. They had artificial flavors of many different kinds, and I really enjoyed them. I hope you are able to bring some to class because if they are anything like what I had I'm sure other people would love to try them. Or if you could bring them to the dinner pot luck that would be really good too!
We (Koreans) also enjoy eating candies during the new year. But rice cake is more popular than candies. We eat rice cake that is filled inside with some sweet tasting red beans. I wonder if your culture (chinese) also eats rice cake during the new year.
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