INTRODUCTION
I should be rather familiar with this candy as I was told that this is one of the candies that my late father used to sell.. However, I have no recollection how he did this candy.. Probably, then I was just a small baby and I heard my elder brothers said that the father stir fried these peanut is a wok of hot sand and I can only vividly remember that at the back of our old house, there is a small “heap” of peanut husk…
These peanut candy is still very common nowadays in traditional cake shop or even the supermarkets. Unlike other traditional cuisines or biscuits, this candy does not seem to phase out of the current development.. Packaging are getting prettier and price are getting costlier..
I knew it is not a difficult candy to prepare as almost all traditional nuts candy only utilises maltose and sugar. To master this is to get the right consistency of the sugar syrup that will set at room temperature.Too much water in the sugar syrup will make the candy refused to set. But the good news is that these candy can be “re-boiled” again such that you reached the right consistency.
Yes, this is what I did and it is only successful after my third attempt of re-boiling. If you look closely the colours of the peanuts in the illustration steps and the final product picture, you can see that the final products looks much browner than the illustration. This is because the first and second attempt of the syrup refused to set, I have to put some water and “melt” the soft candy, boil again until I get one that had set. Well, if you have a candy thermometer, it is rather fool proof that when your syrup reaches 160 degree Celsius, it will set at room temperature.
Peanut candy has a long history in China and it dates back to 475-221 BC.. It was actually a food catered for the war refugees. As per Chinese write up:
“花生糖是一種糖果,在中國、西歐和美國都甚為常見,花生糖是將花生、麥芽糖、砂糖混合加熱至濃稠狀態,冷卻凝固後切成小塊所製成。早期的花生糖的主材料與作法極為單純,近年來已衍生多種製作方法,例如花生軟糖、花生酥糖;或添加各種副材料以創造多變化的口味,例如芝麻花生糖等。另有以杏仁、核桃、南瓜子等乾果取代花生,即各自稱呼為杏仁糖、核桃糖、南瓜子糖等。”(Source: http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%8A%B1%E7%94%9F%E7%B3%96)
“据传花生糖的最早出现时间是在公元前475-221年的战国时候,由于当时各地的都是战火纷纷,人人自危,一些稍为有钱的人家为了生命安全,都纷纷逃避,远离战火。在兵荒马乱的时期,为了携带方便,有钱的人家就将饴糖[1]和以麦芽经过糖化熬煮而成的糖,呈粘稠状,俗称麦芽糖)和花生加在一起熬煮,熬煮过后,再切成不规则的一小块一小块的,这就形成了花生糖的始祖,也是世界上最早的花生糖,在12,13世纪,花生糖首先传入阿拉伯国家,然后传到希腊和欧洲乃至世界各地。” (Source: http://www.baike.com/wiki/%E8%8A%B1%E7%94%9F%E7%B3%96)
WHAT IS REQUIRED
Recipe adapted from: 157.香香脆脆花生糖@ 周老師的美食教室:: 痞客邦PIXNET ::
Servings: About 2 medium CNY cookies bottle of Peanut Candy
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500 grams of peanuts
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250 grams of white sugar
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250 grams of maltose
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50 grams of sesame seeds , toasted
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1/4 teaspoon of salt
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150 grams of water
STEPS OF PREPARATION
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Oven bake the peanuts at 150 degree Celsius for 10 minutes. Occasionally stirring is required during these 10 minutes. If you want it browner, you can extend the timing by 1-2 minutes longer.
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In a pot, put water, salt, maltose and sugar, stir until all the sugar dissolved using low heat. Once the sugar have dissolved, increase the heat to medium and bring to boil. No stirring is required for this step.
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Continue boiling until the candy thermometer reaches 160 degree Celsius. If you do not have a thermometer, take some syrup out using and let it blow under the fan, if it hardens, you can continue to proceed to the next step. Add the baked peanuts , toasted sesame seeds and transfer the peanut to a “LIGHTLY GREASED” baking paper. Put another lightly greased baking paper on top, use a rolling pin to flatten to your desired thickness. Cut using a pizza cutter while the candy are “WARM” but not yet set. Once cooled completely, store in an air tight container.
Note:
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If your candy refused to harden, put say half cup of water back to the pot, bring to boil, add the unsuccessful candy, let it boil again. The water will help to loosen the nuts and the syrup will be boiling again. Use the same test again before moulding.
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The cutting have to be fast when it is warm. Once cooled, it is tough for an ordinary knife to cut the candy. You will have to use some thing hard to knock the candy into pieces. Otherwise, you have to perform the same step as mentioned above via re-boiling.
CONCLUSION
I have given some to my ex-colleagues.. Her feedback was that it was just like store bought and told me it is a successful batch. I personally like this too. Why not give this a try?
Hope you like the post day. Cheers and have a nice day.
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Comments are closed
Hi Kenneth,
Thanks for generously sharing so many recipes in ur blog n facebook. I just tried ur Peanut Candy bar recipe today. It’s really good – better than store bought! ( which at times can be too thick/ hard – I once even broke a tooth filling! )
These are not too sweet and the correct hardness!
– http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii13/sspaks64/952fd4ba4ee02961310c42e25b80ed7e.jpg
I am so happy it works for you and that thank you to let me see the picture. I really appreciate this. Thank you thank you.
Hi Kenneth
can you use other syrup as I can’t seam to find Maltese in the auk. Thanks
I do not think you can as that is the critical ingredient that bind