B-Side Beijing on Bingtanghulu

String your happiness and sweetness

Given three keywords for a Chinese to tell a Beijing local snack: sweet, red and stringed, without a second thought many people probably speak out in one voice, “Bingtanghulu!”This test seems to be too simple for a Chinese. However, it may also help you realize why Beijing people have a great favor on this particular snack. The three properties of Bingtanghulu, that is sweet, red and stringed all have propitious meanings in China. So eating Bingtanghulu brings about wonderful desires to people for a sweet, prosperous and abundant life.

Bingtanghulu, or candied haws in a stick is actually sugar-coated haw apples stringed in a bamboo stick. Usually there are five or eight haws in a stick depending on the size of haws. It tastes sweet and crisp first of all, followed by a sour and sweet mixture that subtly spreads in the mouth.    

Unlike many other snacks, it’s not everywhere that you can find a peddler selling Bingtanghulu because it is not quite profitable. As a matter of fact, although it costs normally two Yuan, people don’t seek to buy it. It’s something people buy just for pleasure. Neither is it available whole year around because firstly the frozen coating of sugar can’t stand in the summer, when the haws are not in season then in the second place.

Even though the Bingtanghulu is not so much into people’s daily life now, it has always had a special place of fondness in the mind of Beijing natives. As a typical and traditional snack in Beijing, adults love Bingtanghulu because it may recall their childhood stories. For children, it is so attractive thanks to its sweet taste and lovely looking. Besides, Bingtanghulu is also a very healthful snack, which is mostly attributable to the haw. By eating haws there are considerable benefits to different parts of body, including stomach, brain, kidney and blood, etc. As a folklore goes: In Song dynasty (about 800 years ago), an emperor sought desperately for the healing of his favorite concubine who was in bad sick. After many failed efforts, an unknown medical practitioner diagnosed and then prescribed“Decoct haws with sugar candy, and then eat 5 or 10 haws before each meal. It takes no more than half a month to heal.” Guess what? The concubine really healed so. Since then, the sugar-coated haws went popular among people, and later took the form of a stick. 

That is said to be the origin of Bingtanghulu. It’s intereting to know something related to the royal court. But what really intrigues me is the long history of it. If you haven’t tried Bingtanghulu before, stop for a while by a stall and get one. You must feel the old Beijing life style in one way or another from it. 

 
How to DIY a stick of candied haws?

Ingredients: washed haws, sugar
Steps:
 - Remove the pits: Cut haws narrowly and squeeze out the pits, and if you like put some filling inside, e.g. puree, yam, or walnut. (However, this step is optional if you prefer haws with pits); 
 - Pierce haws in a stick:
 - Cook the sugar: 1.Put sugar in a wok and add water to the same depth of sugar; 2.Cook the sugar in high heat for about 20 minutes. Then turn low heat and keep stirring the sugar for about 10 minutes.
 - Coat haws: Roll over haws in sugar mixture
 - Cool down: Hold the stick and press the haw stick on a wooden board that has been thoroughly soaked in cold water. (A wooden board thoroughly soaked in cold water creates the best condition for the sugar coating to cool down and shape. Alternatively, you may as well use any type of board (Just soak it in cold water for a while). In a few minutes, a cute and delicious Bingtanghulu is made.

 
Lyrics: ( Song of “Bingtanghulu”)

It’s said Bingtanghulu tastes sour, while it’s also sweet
It’s said Bingtanghulu tastes sweet, while it’s also sour
The mellow haw is fully round, and sticked by the sugar candy
It is good for both health and appetite, and makes you much younger
It’s said Bingtanghulu tastes sour, while it’s also sweet
It’s said Bingtanghulu tastes sweet, while it’s also sour
A nice-looking Bingtanghulu is stringed by a bamboo stick. It embodies happiness and union
If happiness and union are stringed together like a Bingtangluhu, never does anxiety or worry go to you