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Crunchy, sweet, and packed with delicious candied strawberries, my version of the Northern Chinese tanghulu is low-effort, high-impact cooking at its finest. Enjoy a strawberry tanghulu or make other candied fruit.
You’ve probably seen tanghulu fruit – or candied fruit – all over Instagram and TikTok, where everything from candied grapes to crunchy strawberries is coated in a sweet sugar syrup, left to harden, and put on a bamboo stick. And while I can’t whisk you to China for a taste of covered tonghulu, I can introduce you to my tanghulu recipe.
Strawberry tanghulu – my favorite – is so versatile. You can serve the glazed strawberries as a delicious dessert, midday snack, or even just on their own. I love them with a glass of my favorite bubble tea for a real boost of natural sweetness.
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What Is Tanghulu
Street food from Northern China, this fruit snack is said to date back centuries. More specifically, to the Guanzhong region during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Tanghulu was believed to have been created for the wife of a member of the dynasty. A folk doctor was enlisted to create a snack that would help her gain weight, so he covered pieces of fruit – traditionally, hawthorn – in sugar syrup.
Since then, this tanghulu recipe has become more and more popular. And nowadays, you can find all sorts of tanghulu fruit and tons of candied fruit recipes – crunchy strawberries, candied grapes, and other sugar-glazed fruit.
What Is Tanghulu Made of
- Sugar: Use white granulated sugar over other kinds for a stronger syrup.
- Water: Fresh drinking water.
- Fruit: You don’t have to make candied hawthorn. Now, tanghulu is made with fruit like strawberries, green grapes, kiwi, blueberries – or whatever your favorites are.
You’ll also need a candy thermometer or other good food thermometer and skewers (metal or bamboo skewers).
How to Make Tanghulu
This candied fruit recipe requires just a few simple steps. Prep the fruit, make the sugar mixture, then dip the fruit skewers and set the sugar-coated fruit.
Step 1: Prep the Fruit
Wash and pat dry the strawberries (or fruit of choice). Make sure to dry them well – we don’t want any extra moisture. If wanted, remove the green stems.
Then arrange the strawberries on a skewer – you can add just one or several if using smaller berries.
Then set the skewers aside while preparing the sugar syrup.
Step 2: How to Make Tanghulu Sugar
In a medium-sized sauce pan, add the sugar and water. Then bring them to a boil over medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar.
The temperature of the sugar water mixture has to reach about 300ºF/150ºC. This will take 5-10 minutes; the syrup will start to reduce. Check the temperature occasionally.
Chef’s Tip: If you don’t have a thermometer, here are two other methods for checking the syrup temperature.
Dip a small spoon in icy water. Then dip it in the sugar mixture. If the syrup hardens onto the spoon immediately, it has reached the right temperature.
Alternatively, drizzle some syrup into a bowl of ice water. It should set right away and form brittle crystal threads that break easily. If they bend, the syrup is not ready.
Step 3: How to Make Strawberry Tanghulu
After the sugar syrup has reached the required temperature, remove the pot from the heat. Take one of the skewers and quickly dip the strawberries in the mixture. Make sure they are all coated.
Prop the pot at an angle & dip the skewer in the deep part of the syrup or use a spoon to help cover all the fruit.
Place the skewer on parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet – the sugar coating should harden quickly and create a hard candy shell. Repeat with the rest of the skewers. Then enjoy your candied strawberries.
Tanghulu Grapes
To make candied grapes, you can use the same steps. First, wash and dry the grapes well. Then dip the grape skewers in the hot sugar syrup.
Finally, place the candy grapes on parchment paper for the sugar coating to set.
Can Tanghulu Sugar be Used on Other Fruit
Yes, you can use this candy strawberries recipe for other fruit too. Choose your favorite from blueberries, kiwi (cut into thick slices or half/quarter moons), Hawthorn berries, kumquats, cherries, apples, tangerines, pineapple, or even cherry tomatoes. These all would make an amazing crunchy candied fruit snack.
So no need to be searching for tanghulu near me, just make your own at home!
How to Store Tanghulu
Tangulu sugar fruit is best enjoyed right away. In this way, with every bite, you can enjoy the hard candy.
If you need to store the candy fruit, cover lightly with plastic wrap and keep it in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. Keep in mind that the sugar coating will become softer as time goes by.
FAQs
Use the ratio of 2:1 sugar to water – you can adjust based on how much candy fruit you’re making.
If the syrup’s been heated to the right temperature, the tanghulu fruit should harden almost immediately. If you are having issues, you can dip the candied fruit in ice cold water.
Too much moisture has likely gotten into the sugar syrup. You have to cook the sugar to 300°F/150ºC to get it to the “hard crack” stage of candying.
Tanghulu is best enjoyed immediately. But, if stored properly in a sealed, airtight container, your tanghulu can last for up to two weeks – though this will depend on the kind of fruit you use.
It’s likely the sugar syrup wasn’t hot enough or you’ve exposed it to too high humidity. Keep the tanghulu fruit in a cool place and make sure your sugar is cooked to exactly 300°F/150ºC before using.
The juices from the fruit are released in the fridge, which seeps into the syrup and causes it to dissolve. You can prevent this by storing it properly.
Other Sweet Treats
- Homemade Fruit Roll-Ups
- Mangonada (Chamoyada)
- Candied Lemon Slices
- Peach Cobbler
- Cinnamon Sugar
- Quick And Easy Candied Walnuts
If you try this tanghulu recipe (candied strawberries), I’d love to hear your thoughts/questions below. Also, I’d appreciate a recipe card rating below, and feel free to tag me in your recipe recreations on Instagram @Alphafoodie!
How to Make Tanghulu (Candied Fruit)
Equipment
- Skewers wooden or metal
- Food Thermometer optional
Ingredients
- 1 lb strawberries AND/OR blueberries, grapes, kiwi, or other fruit of choice (see Notes below)
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Wash and pat dry the fruit well with a paper towel.
- Get the fruit ready. Remove the green stems of the strawberries. Remove grapes from their stems. Cut larger fruit like kiwi into slices or smaller bite-sized pieces.
- Arrange the fruit on the skewers—it's best to thread just 1 or 2 pieces of fruit (depending on their size) and keep them at one end of the skewer. Set the skewers aside.
- Fill a bowl with cold water and add a few ice cubes to make an ice bath.
- Add the sugar and water to a medium-sized saucepan and bring them to a boil over medium heat. Do not stir!
- The temperature of the sugar syrup has to reach around 300ºF/150ºC. This takes 5-10 minutes. The syrup will start to reduce and become amber in color. Check the temperature occasionally with a thermometer (it's OK if it's a few degrees higher). Alternatively, drizzle some syrup into the bowl of ice water. It should set right away and form brittle crystal threads that break easily. If they bend, the syrup is not ready.
- Once the sugar syrup has reached the required temperature, remove the pot from the heat. You can prot the pot at an angle so it's easier to dip the skewers in the deep part.Prepare your working station: skewered fruit, the syrup next to them, the ice bath, and a wire rack or a tray covered with parchment paper on which to lay the candied fruit.
- Take one of the skewers and quickly dip it in the mixture, making sure all the fruit is coated in the sugar syrup. Immediately dip it in the ice water and lay it on the tray.
- Repeat the steps of quickly dipping the skewered fruit in the syrup and ice water until all the fruit is done. Let them rest for a few minutes on the tray.Your tanghulu is now ready to enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I could do three skewers max before the syrup crystalized! What did I do wrong?
Hi Elaine,
It sounds like the syrup might have crystallized because it cooled down too quickly. To prevent this, try dipping the fruit into the syrup while it’s still hot. You can also try slightly heating the syrup again if it starts to crystallize. I hope this helps!
Not sure how I managed to mess this one up. I cook and bake A LOT. Should’ve been so simple for the kids but… stayed syrup. Never hardened. Help???? 🙁
Also should have said that I tried five minutes then ten then fifteen and after twenty just gave up.
Hi there.
The sugar syrup must reach 300°F (150°C). At this point, you can quickly dip the fruit, and the coating will harden. You can also place the dipped fruit in a bowl with ice water. I hope this helps.
unfortunately i burnt the sugar so that’s fun
So sorry to hear this, Mia! While the sugar syrup needs to reach 300ºF/150ºC, please boil it at medium heat so it doesn’t burn.
this tanghlu was delicous
Glad you liked it, Rahma!
My kids love it . We made strawberries
Awww, glad you all liked it! Strawberry Tanghulu is delicious!