Name: Tanghulu (Candied Fruit Skewers)
Total time: 50 min
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 2 cups stemmed strawberries, grapes, kumquats, grape or cherry tomatoes, and/or clementine segments, room temperature; 8 (10-inch) wooden skewers; 1 cup sugar; ½ cup water

Why This Recipe Works

Skewers of bite-size fruit encased in a candied shell that splinters when you take a bite, tanghulu have long been a popular street food in China and neighboring countries, and they’ve recently become a social media sensation. To make the ideally thin, glassy coating, the keys are cooking the sugar to the hard-crack stage and using dry, room-temperature fruit. Chilled fruit hardens the syrup too quickly, while too much moisture keeps the coating from sticking; both can lead to a thicker shell that shatters into overly hard shards.

Before You Begin

Feel free to use just one type of fruit or a mix. Working with dry, room temperature fruit is important to achieving the characteristic thin, glassy coating; if the fruit is chilled, rinse with warm water and dry thoroughly before skewering. For a double batch, heat 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of water in a 12-inch skillet; the syrup will take about 20 minutes to reach the hard-crack stage.

Instructions

Thread 2 cups stemmed strawberries, grapes, kumquats, grape tomatoes, and/or clementine segments onto 8 (10-inch) wooden skewers to cover 4 inches. Prepare ice water bath deep enough to submerge skewered fruit when dipped.

Heat 1 cup sugar and ½ cup water in 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Cook, without stirring, until large bubbles break across surface and syrup just begins to turn amber and registers 300 to 310 degrees (hard-crack stage), about 15 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium-low and tilt skillet with 1 hand so syrup pools on 1 side, using your other hand to dip skewer into syrup. Twirl in syrup with single rotation to cover fruit completely, shaking off any excess.

Immediately dip fruit into ice water to set syrup shell, submerging for 5 to 10 seconds. Transfer to plate. Repeat with remaining skewers. For best texture, serve immediately or within 2 hours.