Ingredients
Scale
- ½ cup water (120ml)
- 1 cup white sugar (200g)
- 12 small strawberries
- parchment paper or oil for lightly greasing the plate
Instructions
- Dry the strawberries very well in order for the sugar coating to stick. Then, skewer each strawberry with one per stick.
- Prepare parchment paper to cool the strawberries later, or very lightly oil a plate so the hot sugar doesn’t stick.
- Add the sugar and water to a pot and gently simmer until the sugar is about halfway dissolved. Then, stop mixing.
- Increase the heat to between medium and medium high and continue to cook the sugar. The sugar mixture should be bubbling.
- Now for the chopstick test, grab a glass of ice water and a wooden chopstick or any other wooden utensil. Start checking the mixture at around 5 minutes by dipping the chopstick in the pot, then immediately into the ice water. Bite the chopstick – it should crunch in your mouth. If it’s still soft and sticks to your teeth, keep cooking!
- Watch the sugar mixture carefully because it’s easy to burn. The time it takes will depend on the heat you’re using. The mixture will turn a light golden brown when ready. It’s taken me between 12 minutes to 22 minutes, which varied because of the heat I used. Don’t use max heat to cook because you risk burning it.
- Dry the strawberries with a paper towel once again to ensure the exterior has no moisture. When the mixture is ready, take it off the heat and quickly dip your fruit for no more than a few seconds, then twist the stick and let the excess drip off. You’ll only have about 2-3 minutes before the sugar mixture hardens, so work quickly!
- Place the tanghulu on parchment paper or the oiled plate you prepared earlier. It should harden almost immediately. Enjoy!
Notes
Please be careful because the mixture is VERY HOT. You can wear gloves, or use very long sticks to protect yourself.
Smaller strawberries work best for tanghulu because it’s easier to eat.