Dragon's beard candy ( zh, t=龍鬚糖, s=龙须糖, p=lóng xū táng, first=t or Chinese cotton candy is a handmade traditional art of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. It is a traditional Chinese confectionary similar to floss halva or Western

cotton candy Cotton candy, also known as fairy floss and candy floss, is a spun sugar confection that resembles cotton. It usually contains small amounts of flavoring or food coloring. It is made by heating and liquefying sugar, and spinning it centrifu ...

, which can be found in many Chinese communities. Dragon's beard candy was initially created in China, but soon spread in popularity in other parts of

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

and became a regional delicacy in other parts of

such as

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, as well as (and more recently)

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It has a low

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

content (19%) and low

saturated fat A saturated fat is a type of fat in which the fatty acid chains have all single bonds. A fat known as a glyceride is made of two kinds of smaller molecules: a short glycerol backbone and fatty acids that each contain a long linear or branched c ...

content (2%). By comparison,

is fat free with a very high

content (94%). Dragon's beard candy has a very short

shelf life Shelf life is the length of time that a commodity may be stored without becoming unfit for use, consumption, or sale. In other words, it might refer to whether a commodity should no longer be on a pantry shelf (unfit for use), or no longer on a ...

. It is highly sensitive to moisture and tends to melt when exposed to higher temperatures, notably during warm weather.

History

According to legend, Dragon's Beard Candy was invented during the Chinese

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

Ng Yan Yan. URL accessed on April 14, 2009. by an imperial court chef who entertained the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

one day by performing the complicated steps in making a new confection, which involved stretching a dough-like mixture composed from

rice flour Rice flour (also rice powder) is a form of flour made from finely milled rice. It is distinct from rice starch, which is usually produced by steeping rice in lye. Rice flour is a common substitute for wheat flour. It is also used as a thickening a ...

into small, thin strands. These strands reminded the Emperor of a dragon's beard, and were sticky enough to adhere to one's face easily, so the concoction was named Dragon's Beard Candy. The name may also be attributed to the status of the mythical

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

as a symbol of the Chinese Emperor, so presenting the confection as Dragon's Beard Candy was deemed acceptable due to the social nature of the candy. It was reserved only for the

ruling class In sociology, the ruling class of a society is the social class who set and decide the political and economic agenda of society. In Marxist philosophy, the ruling class are the capitalist social class who own the means of production and by exten ...

due to the complexity of the preparation process. Dragon's Beard Candy became a source of conflict several centuries later, however, as during the

Chinese Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

the

Red Guard Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard le ...

, acting on the orders of the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

, forbade the Chinese populace to take part in activities that could be attributed to the Han Dynasty. The initial rarity of the candy, combined with government policy banning the art, made the craft of making Dragon's Beard Candy even more isolated and sparsely practiced. Nevertheless, in recent years, the art has resurfaced in tourist destinations such as street festivals, and has even spread to farther reaches of the globe through dedicated masters of the task.

Preparation

Traditionally, Dragon's Beard Candy is made from sugar and maltose syrup, although recipes based on

corn syrup Corn syrup is a food syrup which is made from the starch of corn (called maize in many countries) and contains varying amounts of sugars: glucose, maltose and higher oligosaccharides, depending on the grade. Corn syrup is used in foods to softe ...

are now used in the United States. The main ingredients of Dragon's Beard Candy include approximately 75 grams of fine white sugar, 75 grams of

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...

s, 75 grams of desiccated

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

, 38 grams of white

sesame Sesame ( or ; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a flowering plant in the genus ''Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cu ...

seeds, 150 grams of maltose syrup, and 1 bowl of glutinous rice flour. Due to the presence of large amounts of syrup, the candy has a very high sugar content. For preparation of Dragon's Beard Candy, the preparer must initially boil and melt the

saturated Saturation, saturated, unsaturation or unsaturated may refer to: Chemistry * Saturation, a property of organic compounds referring to carbon-carbon bonds ** Saturated and unsaturated compounds **Degree of unsaturation ** Saturated fat or fatty ac ...

maltose } Maltose ( or ), also known as maltobiose or malt sugar, is a disaccharide formed from two units of glucose joined with an α(1→4) bond. In the isomer isomaltose, the two glucose molecules are joined with an α(1→6) bond. Maltose is the two- ...

solution (which may include sugar or corn syrup) for 5 minutes until thickened, followed by leaving the mixture to chill for 10 minutes until a semisolid state is reached. This resulting mass, which is somewhat flexible or elastic, is then formed into a

torus In geometry, a torus (plural tori, colloquially donut or doughnut) is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three-dimensional space about an axis that is coplanar with the circle. If the axis of revolution does not tou ...

. Next, the preparer must take the gooey sugar,

, or

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks t ...

based gel and dip it into the sugar dough. Thirdly, the gooey chunk must be shaped into a ring resembling a

doughnut A doughnut or donut () is a type of food made from leavened fried dough. It is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franc ...

, the key feature being the large hole. This step must by followed by repeatedly pulling, twisting, stretching, and folding the dough over on itself, doubling the number of strands created after each repetition. While the candy is being folded, it is recommended to keep the dough covered in toasted glutinous flour to prevent it from sticking to surfaces. The dough must then be stretched into paper-thin strands, where each strand should be three to four inches long. Then, the strands should be tangled into a circular shape, and dipped into corn flour to keep the strands from sticking together. Finally, the ring should be cut into small pieces and wrapped around crushed

sesame seed Sesame ( or ; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a flowering plant in the genus ''Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cu ...

s, crunched

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

, or

inside. Specific Dragon's Beard Candy filling depends on several factors, such as region, purpose, and respective chef. The candy is recommended to be consumed immediately after its preparation is complete, but it should remain fresh for up to six minutes in proper conditions.

Comparison to Western cotton candy

Both cotton candy and Dragon's Beard Candy are made of sugar and share the characteristic of notable stickiness and a high sensitivity to

moisture Moisture is the presence of a liquid, especially water, often in trace amounts. Small amounts of water may be found, for example, in the air (humidity), in foods, and in some commercial products. Moisture also refers to the amount of water vapo ...

. Both substances will clump together when exposed to the air for a certain amount of time. However, cotton candy has a larger surface area, thus allowing a small amount of sugar to generate into a greater volume of product. Its serving on each stick is 37 grams, including food dyes and flavor, containing around 110 calories per serving. While Dragon's Beard Candy contain a lower content of sugar (7.2 grams), it contains a slightly higher caloric content of 141.2, as well as a higher fat content (6.1 grams), compared to Western-style cotton candy, typically containing 0g of fat. This is due to the fact that in addition to sugar, Dragon's Beard is composed of peanuts, sesame seeds and other ingredients, while cotton candy is close to 100% sugars. The nutritional value of the wrapping alone is essentially identical to cotton candy's.

Presentation

It is common for street vendors of Dragon's Beard Candy to carry out the folding process involved in preparation of the confection at their stall, which can attract customers fascinated by the process as much as by a desire to purchase the candy. However, customers can purchase Dragon's Beard Candies through online stores.

References

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External links