Dragon's Beard Candy
Source entry is a pair of video clippings ("How to make Dragons Beard Candy Making - The Impossible Hand Pulled Cotton Candy" and a Turkish clip "Sacak cikolata nasil atilir?") with no written recipe; a faithful classic method is reconstructed below. Dragon's Beard Candy is a traditional Chinese hand-pulled spun-sugar confection.
Ingredients
| 400 g | sugar | |
| 2 tbsp | 30 ml | maltose (malt syrup) |
| 60 ml | water | |
| — | cornstarch, for dusting | |
| — | roasted peanuts, finely chopped | |
| — | toasted sesame seeds | |
| — | shredded coconut |
Instructions
(reconstructed classic method)
- Combine the sugar, maltose (malt syrup) and water in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, without stirring, until the syrup reaches the hard-ball stage (about 130-135°C / 265-275°F).
- Pour the syrup into a lightly greased ring mould or onto an oiled surface and let it cool until it firms into a stiff, workable ring.
- Generously dust a work surface and your hands with cornstarch (or a mix of cornstarch and rice flour).
- Hook the sugar ring over a peg or your fingers, then repeatedly fold and pull it into a doubled loop, dusting with cornstarch each time. Keep doubling: 2, 4, 8, 16... strands, until you have thousands of fine silky threads resembling a beard.
- Meanwhile prepare the filling by mixing finely chopped roasted peanuts, toasted sesame seeds and shredded coconut (add a little sugar if desired).
- Cut the bundle of threads into short lengths. Place a spoonful of filling on each portion and wrap the threads around it, sealing into a small pillow.
- Serve immediately, as the delicate threads dissolve and clump quickly in humidity.