3-Ingredient Homemade Tanghulu (Candied Fruit) Recipe - Kitchen (Mis)Adventures (2024)

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Crunchy, sweet, and fruity – This homemade tanghulu recipe uses only 3 key ingredients. Treat your taste buds to Chinese street food with tangulu made from scratch.

This snack is easy to prepare and affordable. Enjoy a strawberry candy or replace it with any fruit you like!

  • What Is Tanghulu?
  • The Main Ingredients Of Tanghulu
  • Is Tanghulu Healthy?
  • The Best Way To Store Tanghulu
  • Cooking Tips And Suggestions For Making Tanghulu
  • Tools And Ingredients To Make Tanghulu
  • A Step-by-Step Guide To Making Homemade Tanghulu

What Is Tanghulu?

Tanghulu or Bingtanghulu (Chinese Candied Fruit) dates back to the Song Dynasty in the Guanzhong region. It is a candied fruit coated with hardened sugar glaze, making it crunchy in every bite. The fruit candy is prepared on wooden skewers, a typical Chinese street food serving style.

3-Ingredient Homemade Tanghulu (Candied Fruit) Recipe - Kitchen (Mis)Adventures (1)

Using strawberries as the fruit base is common. Today, you can find different kinds of tanghulu versions, from candied grapes to blueberries.

Tanghulu takes its natural flavors from the fruit base with a bit of sugary sweetness with the hardened sugar coating.

Have tanghulu as a snack or a sweet dessert after a meal. It also pairs well with Winter Melon Teaor Boba Milk Tea.

The Main Ingredients Of Tanghulu

It’s easy to make tanghulu at home since you only need 3 readily available ingredients in grocery stores or supermarkets.

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe:

  • Your choice of fruit: You can use any fruit you like to coat it with sugary syrup. Strawberries are popularly used for this recipe for their vibrant red colors that make the overall presentation look nicer. Moreover, the combination of the sweet and slightly sour taste of strawberries complements well with the sweetness of the sugar coating. Aside from strawberries, go for hawthorn, grapes, cherries, apples, blueberries, pineapples, and kiwi. Basically, any fruit will work as long as the sugar coats the entire fruit and hardens.

3-Ingredient Homemade Tanghulu (Candied Fruit) Recipe - Kitchen (Mis)Adventures (2)

Use any fruit you like for Tanghulu

  • Sugar: For a clear glaze, use white sugar. The sugar is cooked on high heat with water to create the syrup coating for the fruit. If you don’t have white sugar, you can also use light or dark brown sugar.
  • Water: As mentioned, you’ll need water to create the sugar coating. The water and sugar are cooked on high heat until the sugar melts and becomes sticky. I recommend using fresh drinking water since you’ll be eating the hardened sugar with this water.

Is Tanghulu Healthy?

Tanghulu is a sweet treat loved for the fruit’s nutritional content. Most fruits are generally low in fat and calories and are rich in vitamins and fiber. Fruits are excellent sources of potassium, carbohydrates, calcium, iron, and vitamins A and C.

3-Ingredient Homemade Tanghulu (Candied Fruit) Recipe - Kitchen (Mis)Adventures (3)

In fact, consuming at least two to four servings of fruits in a day is recommended.

So what can make tanghulu unhealthy? Well, it’s just the added sugar to it, especially with white granulated sugar.

White sugar is refined sugar that is mostly carbohydrates. Excessive consumption of refined sugar is considered harmful to your health, increasing your risk for obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Thus, make sure to eat tanghulu in healthy amounts.

The Best Way To Store Tanghulu

Have the freshest and crunchiest tanghulu by munching on it as soon as possible. However, having leftovers is unavoidable. Not to worry, you can keep tanghulu in the refrigerator and preserve its yummy candy shell.

Store it in an airtight container with parchment paper lined on a single layer and not stacked since you want to avoid losing the hardened sugar coating. You can keep it in the fridge for up to three days. However, the shelf life may vary depending on the type of fruit and how fresh they are.

Keep in mind some fruits spoil faster than others. Moreover, the sugar coating may absorb the juices and water from the fruit, which can make it soft in the long run. Thus, I highly recommend eating tanghulu within the day after making it.

Moreover, keep it away from high humidity. Exposure to heat can cause the sugar to melt and lose the crunchy coating. It should be stored in a cool place if you plan to leave it out of the fridge.

Cooking Tips And Suggestions For Making Tanghulu

The recipe is fairly straightforward. You just cook the sugar syrup and dip the fruit into the syrup to coat it. However, the tricky part is making sure the sugar is ready for dipping. Otherwise, the syrup will not harden on the fruit.

So before proceeding with the recipe, read my cooking tips and suggestions for making tanghulu the best way possible.

  • Use chopsticks to check if the syrup is ready: The trick to knowing if the sugar syrup is ready for dipping is using chopsticks. Once the mixture boils and becomes sticky, dip the chopsticks into the syrup and immediately immerse it in cold water. If the syrup hardens and sticks to the chopsticks, then it is ready for dipping with the fruit.
  • Use a spoon to check if the syrup is ready: Aside from chopsticks, you can also use a spoon. Dip the spoon into ice-cold water and then into the hot syrup. It should harden immediately, indicating the syrup is hot enough for dipping.
  • Use a thermometer to measure if the syrup is hot enough: You can check the temperature of the sugar and water mixture using a thermometer. It should be 150ºC or 300°F to ensure that the syrup is ready and will harden.
  • Pour some syrup into a bowl of ice water: You don’t need chopsticks, a spoon, or a thermometer to know if the syrup is hot enough for coating. Simply pour a bit of syrup into a bowl of water and ice. The syrup should form crystal threads and harden. However, if the syrup bends and drips, it means it is not yet hot enough for coating.
  • The fruit should not be too wet: Even if the syrup is ready or has reached 300°F, it will still not harden if the fruit is too wet. Make sure that the fruits are dry before coating them with the syrup.
  • Use 2 parts sugar and 1 part water: In this recipe, we use 200g sugar and 100g water. If you wish to lessen or double the amount, remember the ratio of 2:1 for sugar and water.

Tools And Ingredients To Make Tanghulu

After reading my tips and suggestions, you are now ready to make homemade tanghulu. Gather these everyday kitchen tools, such as a pot for boiling and a measuring cup or weighing scale to measure the ingredients. Grab some of your favorite fruits from the supermarket and get a pack of wooden skewers.

Kitchen Tools

  • Pot for boiling
  • Chopsticks, spoon, or thermometer to check the syrup readiness
  • Wooden skewers for the fruits
  • Measuring cup or weighing scale to measure the ingredients
  • Tray lined with parchment paper

Ingredients

  • Fruits such as strawberries, blueberries, and kiwi (It’s up to you how many fruits you want to use.)
  • 200g white sugar
  • 100g water

A Step-by-Step Guide To Making Homemade Tanghulu

Wash and clean the fruits thoroughly. Make sure there is no dirt or residue left on the skin. Then, pat them dry. Ensure they are completely dry before dipping into the syrup. Get your skewers and start skewering your favorite fruits.

3-Ingredient Homemade Tanghulu (Candied Fruit) Recipe - Kitchen (Mis)Adventures (4)

3-Ingredient Homemade Tanghulu (Candied Fruit) Recipe - Kitchen (Mis)Adventures (5)

In a cooking pot, add 200g of sugar and 100g of water.

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Cook the sugar and water on high heat and bring to a boil.

3-Ingredient Homemade Tanghulu (Candied Fruit) Recipe - Kitchen (Mis)Adventures (7)

Once it boils and becomes sticky, turn the heat to low. Test the syrup if it is ready for coating using any of the following techniques mentioned in the Cooking Tips And Suggestions.

  • Dip the chopstick into the syrup and immediately immerse it in cold water. The syrup on the chopsticks should harden immediately. Here is the method I used.

3-Ingredient Homemade Tanghulu (Candied Fruit) Recipe - Kitchen (Mis)Adventures (8)

  • Dip the spoon into ice-cold water and then into the hot syrup. The syrup should harden on the spoon as well.
  • Check the temperature of the sugar and water mixture using a thermometer. It should be 150ºC or 300°F.
  • Pour a bit of syrup into a bowl of water and ice. The syrup should form crystal threads and harden.

When the syrup is ready for coating, dip the fruit skewer into the syrup and coat all sides of the fruits.

3-Ingredient Homemade Tanghulu (Candied Fruit) Recipe - Kitchen (Mis)Adventures (9)

3-Ingredient Homemade Tanghulu (Candied Fruit) Recipe - Kitchen (Mis)Adventures (10)

Let it cool and harden on a tray lined with parchment paper. It should harden almost immediately or about 5 minutes.

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Enjoy tanghulu while it is crunchy and juicy!

3-Ingredient Homemade Tanghulu (Candied Fruit) Recipe - Kitchen (Mis)Adventures (12)

3-Ingredient Homemade Tanghulu Recipe

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Chinese

Servings 4

Equipment

  • Pot for boiling

  • Chopsticks, spoon, or thermometer to check the syrup readiness

  • Wooden skewers for the fruits

  • Measuring cup or weighing scale to measure the ingredients

  • Tray lined with parchment paper

Ingredients

  • Fruits such as strawberries blueberries, and kiwi (It’s up to you how many fruits you want to use.)
  • 200 g white sugar
  • 100 g water

Instructions

  • Wash and clean the fruits thoroughly. Make sure there is no dirt or residue left on the skin.

  • Then, pat them dry. Ensure they are completely dry before dipping into the syrup.

  • Get your skewers and start skewering your favorite fruits.

  • In a cooking pot, add 200g of sugar and 100g of water.

  • Cook the sugar and water on high heat and bring to a boil.

  • Once it boils and becomes sticky, turn the heat to low.

  • Test the syrup if it is ready for coating using any of the following techniques mentioned in the Cooking Tips And Suggestions.

    a.Dip the chopstick into the syrup and immediately immerse it in cold water. The syrup on the chopsticks should harden immediately.

    b.Dip the spoon into ice-cold water and then into the hot syrup. The syrup should harden on the spoon as well.

    c.Check the temperature of the sugar and water mixture using a thermometer. It should be 150ºC or 300°F.

    d.Pour a bit of syrup into a bowl of water and ice. The syrup should form crystal threads and harden.

  • When the syrup is ready for coating, dip the fruit skewer into the syrup and coat all sides of the fruits.

  • Let it cool and harden on a tray lined with parchment paper. It should harden almost immediately or about 5 minutes.

  • Enjoy tanghulu while it is crunchy and juicy!

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

3-Ingredient Homemade Tanghulu (Candied Fruit) Recipe - Kitchen (Mis)Adventures (2024)

FAQs

3-Ingredient Homemade Tanghulu (Candied Fruit) Recipe - Kitchen (Mis)Adventures? ›

Why isn't my sugar hardening on my tanghulu? If the sugar isn't setting, it means that the sugar hadn't been heated to the right temperature. Make sure you check the temperature or consistency of the sugar water mixture before dipping your fruit.

Why is my tanghulu not hardening? ›

Why isn't my sugar hardening on my tanghulu? If the sugar isn't setting, it means that the sugar hadn't been heated to the right temperature. Make sure you check the temperature or consistency of the sugar water mixture before dipping your fruit.

How do you make tanghulu not stick to your teeth? ›

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.

What fruit is tanghulu made of? ›

Tanghulu (also known as bingtang hulu) is a candied fruit snack originating from China. Traditionally, it uses red hawthorn berries dipped in a sugar syrup and served on a bamboo skewer, and they're often given to children on Chinese New Year as a symbol of happiness.

Why does my tanghulu keep crystallizing? ›

The sugar will crystallize if you stir it while you cook it. Make sure you don't stir the sugar after it comes to a simmer. If it does crystallize, add another half cup of water and start the process again. If making chocolate tanghulu, once the cocoa powder is added, it will begin to crystallize.

Why won't my homemade candy harden? ›

If the sugar mixture is not cooked to the proper temperature (the hard-crack stage 300-310° F {149-154° C.} or if you are working in a kitchen with high humidity, chances are your candy is retaining too much moisture.

Why won't my candied strawberries harden? ›

If you candied strawberries are not hardening, there could be a number of reasons. You didn't cook your syrup to the correct temperature. You must hit 305F. The candy shell is too thick and taking longer to harden.

Why wont my candied fruit harden? ›

If your candied coating isn't hardening, the candying mixture did not reach a high enough temperature.

Can you use brown sugar instead of white for tanghulu? ›

If you don't have white sugar, you can also use light or dark brown sugar. Water: As mentioned, you'll need water to create the sugar coating. The water and sugar are cooked on high heat until the sugar melts and becomes sticky.

Why is hard candy bad for your teeth? ›

Sucking on a hard candy increases the length of time that the bacteria has to convert the sugar into acid, raising the risk of decay.

What does tanghulu mean in English? ›

Tanghulu (/tɑːŋ.hulu/) or tang hulu (simplified Chinese: 糖葫芦; traditional Chinese: 糖葫蘆; pinyin: táng húlu; lit. 'sugar calabash'), also called bingtang hulu (冰糖葫芦; 冰糖葫蘆; bīngtáng húlu; 'rock-sugar calabash'), is a traditional Chinese snack consisting of several rock sugar-coated fruits of Chinese hawthorn (Crataegus ...

What happens if you stir tanghulu? ›

Spearing more than two strawberries per skewer will make it more challenging to coat the fruit fully with syrup. Do not stir the sugar and water mixture. Doing so will cause the syrup to crystallize, making it cloudy instead of clear.

Which tanghulu is best? ›

Strawberry Tanghulu

Tanghuli Strawberries aka candied strawberries are a fun and delicious treat. Crunchy on the outside, juicy and sweet on the inside… they're delicious.

What is the difference between candied and crystallized fruit? ›

Candied fruit is known as crystallized fruit or glacé fruit, where the whole fruit or smaller pieces of fruit/peel are placed in heated sugar syrup, which absorbs the moisture from the fruit and eventually preserves it (Kuwabara, 1988).

Does lemon stop sugar from crystallizing? ›

Add a little acid (such as a touch of lemon juice) or corn syrup to the sugar-water mixture before cooking; they help interfere with crystallization.

Why is my tanghulu sticky and not hard? ›

The most likely reason your tanghulu is sticky is that the sugar didn't get hot enough. Ensure your sugar is at least 250 degrees F before testing to see if it's ready. The second issue could be that you got too much moisture in the sugar by not drying off your fruit before dipping it.

Why is my tanghulu still sticky? ›

If your parchment paper is not good quality, your candy may stick to it. You can spray the parchment paper with pan spray to prevent sticking. 7. Step 7: The sugar coating should harden almost immediately.

How do I fix chewy tanghulu? ›

This recipe has an overall sweet flavor but it can change depending on which fruit you choose to glaze. Why is my tanghulu chewy? If you heat the sugar syrup at very low temperatures, you risk the sugar coating to be chewy. To prevent this from happening, always cook the syrup at medium-high heat.

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