Dragon's Beard Candy

$Dragon\'s Beard Candy$ Dragon\'s Beard Candy

Sugar

Dragon’s beard candy is hand-pulled cotton candy wrapped around roasted peanuts. Similar to the Persian pashmak and the Turkish pishmaniye, Dragon’s beard candy is enjoyed throughout China. This specialty is made fresh for customers by candy vendors in China, but it can also be made at home.

Recipe Servings: 12

Prep Time

2 hours
+ 20 minutes resting

Cook Time

25 minutes

Total Time

2 hours 45 minutes

Vegetarian

Vegan

Gluten Free

Dairy Free

Kosher

Halal

Ingredients

5 cups (1 kg) sugar
1/3 cup (80 ml) corn syrup
1 tsp (5 ml) vinegar
2¼ cups (535 ml) water
Glutinous rice flour, as needed
1 cup (125 g) ground, roasted peanuts

Directions

Combine sugar, corn syrup, vinegar, and water in a large pot set over medium heat.
Cook mixture for 20–25 minutes. Do not stir mixture as it boils, as this can cause sugar to crystallize.
Heat mixture to 271°F (133°C) and then remove it from the heat.
Let syrup cool to 212°F (100°C).
Pour syrup into small heat-safe cups.
Place some glutinous rice flour in a bowl.
Remove pucks from cups once they are hard around the edges but still pliable in the center.
Use a dowel or finger to make a large hole in the center of each puck, creating a doughnut or ring shape.
Dip a candy ring into the rice flour to prevent it from sticking to your hands or itself.
Hold the candy ring vertically and squeeze around the edges using the palm of your hand, keeping the bottom of the ring in the rice flour.
Pull and stretch the candy ring until it is large, and then twist it to form a figure-eight and fold the two halves of the figure-eight over each other to form a new ring.
Continue stretching and folding until the sugar strands are long and fine, around 10 times.
Tear off (don't cut) a 6-inch (15-cm) portion of the candy "beard" and place a spoonful of roasted peanuts in the center.
Wrap the candy around the ground peanuts, creating a tight bundle.
Repeat the process using the remaining candy and peanuts.