- Dragon's beard candy
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Dragon's beard candy 
Traditional Chinese 龍鬚糖 Simplified Chinese 龙须糖 Literal meaning dragon beard candy Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin lóng xū táng Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping lung4 sou1 tong4*2 Alternative Chinese name Traditional Chinese 銀絲糖 Simplified Chinese 银丝糖 Literal meaning silver silk candy Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin yíng sī táng Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping ngan4 si1 tong4*2 Dragon's beard candy (or Chinese cotton candy) is a handmade traditional art of Ancient China that is well-known for a long time.It is also a traditional Chinese sweet similar to spun sugar found in many Chinese communities. Dragon’s Beard Candy is created in China and soon it becomes a popular treat and spreads to Canada, Singapore, United State, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan. Dragon's beard candy is highly prized sweet within the Korean royal court as well.
Originally, Dragon’s Beard Candy is available only in coconut flavor, but later chocolate is added to entertain children. It now contains a flavored mixed with chocolate, coconut and peanut. It is not sold to any company and it retails at the price of 3 Canadian dollars, before tax. Dragon’s Beard Candy is not conceived as an easily marketable candy because of requiring hard and talented skills to produce. Moreover, the way of making Dragon’s Beard Candy is heritable, only a few people know the way to make it. As a result, Dragon’s Beard Candy is becoming rare, especially when there is no advertising campaign. Though its availability is limited, it can still be found at some tourist destinations including the Takayama Historic District in Takayama, Gifu.The target of this product is everyone.
Contents
Description
Dragon’s Beard Candy has been described as an old-fashioned candy and “rich sweet flavor” with a threaded, chewy texture. Its appearance is white cocoon or pillow shape.[1] It has very high sugar content (29%). Also, it is not healthy due to its 4% of saturated fat content.[2] For comparison, comparing Dragon’s Beard Candy with cotton candy, cotton candy has no fat content.[3] Despite it is a well-known traditional candy, it has a very short shelf life, due to its high sensitivity to moisture[4] and its habit of melting under hot condition.
Nutritional Fact Table
The following tables presents the nutritional information of Dragon's Beard Candy per 37g.
Nurition Value Amount Per serving=Serving Size:1(37g) Calories 141.2 Daily value Calories from Fat 54g 38 % total fat6.1g 9 % Saturated fat 0.8g 4 % Cholesterol 0.0g 0 % Dietary fiber 1.0g 4 % Sugars 7.2g 29 % Protein 3.2g 6 % History
The legend of Dragon’s Beard Candy was discovered in Han Dynasty, at least 1000 years ago.[5] One day, the imperial court chef entertained the Emperor by performing the steps of making a new confection. The process of making the confection involved of stretching the flour into small, thin strands. These strands reminded the Emperor of a Dragon’s Beard, furthermore the texture of the strands were sticky. It was easily sticked on the face, so it was named as Dragon’s Beard Candy afterward. Moreover, the mythical dragon was a symbol of Chinese Emperor,[6] so presenting it as Dragon’s Beard Candy was suitable because this candy was only reserved for the ruling class. Centuries later, there was the Chinese Cultural Revolution, the Red Guard in the revolution forbid everyone to held activities that connected to the Han Dynasty,[7]so the art of making Dragon’s Beard Candy was almost vanished; until Johnny Chin,[8] who started to spread the Dragon’s Beard Candy to Montreal in 1991.
Preparation
Dragon's beard candy being made
Traditionally, the candy is made from sugar and maltose syrup, although recipes based on corn syrup are now used in the United States. The main ingredients[2] of Dragon’s Beard Candy was made of 75g fine white sugar, 75g peanuts , 75g desiccated coconut, 38g White sesame seeds, 150g corn syrup and 1 bowl glutinous rice flour. It has high content of fat and sugar.
Firstly,[9] boil and melt saturated maltose solution (which can be the sugar or corn syrup or sugar cane ) for 5 minutes until it has thickened and then leaved it to chill into a solid puck for 10 minutes. The resulting solid, which is elastic, is formed into a torus. Secondly, takes the gooey sugar, corn syrup or sugar cane based gel and then dips it in sugar dough. Thirdly, shape the gooey chunk into a donut shape with a large hole. Fourthly, repeatedly pulled, twisted, stretched and folded over, doubling the number of strands after each repetition. While the candy is being folded it is kept covered in toasted glutinous flour. Next, stretch it into paper thin strands. Each paper thin strands is recommended to be 3-4 inches long. Then, tangle the strands into a circular shape, dipped the mixture into corn flour in order to keep the strands from sticking together. Finally, cut it into small pieces and wrapped around crushed peanuts, sesame seeds, crunched chocolate and coconut inside.
The candy is to be eaten immediately after manufacture, although it will keep for up to six minutes in heat.
Health risk
Dragon’s Beard Candy contains[9] high sugar and corn syrup. Thus, Dragon’s Beard Candy can lead to high levels of blood fat, when consuming in quantity. Corn syrup belongs to a kind of added sugar[10]and is added in Dragon’s Beard Candy to act as a sweetener to enhance the flavor. However, when consuming too much of corn syrup, it adds extra calories to the diet and leads to an increase in weight, which further contributes to both obesity[11]and cardiovascular disease.[10] In order to avoid the above disease, the World Health organization[10] recommends not to intake more than 10% of added sugar in our diet per day. The American Heart Association[10] also recommends women and men should not take more than 100 and 150 calories of added sugar each day.
Obesity
Obesity is due to excessive intake of sugar, which leads to an accumulation[12] of fat. This further means excessive storage of fat in the body. Being obese increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some cancer.
Tooth Decay
When consuming too much sugar, bacteria in the mouth will continuously to convert the sugar into acid. The acid erodes[13] enamel of the teeth, causing holes to formed, which is also called cavities. This can arouse infection in the gums[14] and result in red, swollen and sore.
Comparison between Chinese Dragon’s Beard Candy and Western Cotton Candy
Both cotton candy and Dragon’s Beard Candy is made of sugar and share the characteristic of stickiness and high sensitivity to moisture. Both of them will clumps together when exposed to the air for a certain time. However, cotton candy is mostly air, so a small amount of sugar can generate into a large volume. Its serving on each stick is 37g, include food dyes [15] and flavor, containing around 110 calories. [3]While Dragon’s Beard Candy contain a lower content of sugar(7.2g) but higher fat content(6.1g) and a higher calories of 141.2 than Western style cotton candy, which contain 0g of fat.[2]
Comparison Table
Chinese cotton candy vs Western cotton candy Amount Per serving=Serving Size:1(37g) Chinese style Western style Calories 141.2 110 total fat6.1g 0 g Saturated fat 0.8g 0 g Cholesterol 0.0g 0 mg Dietary fiber 1.0g 0 g Sugars 7.2g 28 g Protein 3.2g 0 g Presentation
It is common for street vendors of Dragon's Beard Candy to carry out the folding process at their stall, which attracts customers fascinated by the process as much as by a desire to purchase the candy. Furthermore, customers can purchase Dragon’s Beard Candy through online stores.
See also
References
- ^ [1] Jennifer Bain. URL accessed on February 8, 2008.
- ^ a b c d [2] V'nut-Beyond Redemption . URL accessed on Feb 19, 2004.
- ^ a b [3] MyFitnessPal, LLC. URL accessed on 2005-2010.
- ^ [4] . URL accessed on November 10, 2011.
- ^ [5] Ng Yan Yan. URL accessed on April 14 , 2009.
- ^ [6] Chinese Dragon.org. URL accessed on December 2, 2010.
- ^ [7] Wikipedia. URL accessed on November 10, 2011.
- ^ [8] Evelyn Reid. URL accessed on November 10, 2011. page 3.
- ^ a b [9] Jack. URL accessed on November 10, 2011.
- ^ a b c d [10] Shereen Jegtvig. URL accessed on October 6, 2010.
- ^ [11] Conquering-Obesity.com. URL accessed on November 10, 2011.
- ^ [12] Sanjay Bhagani. URL accessed on November, 2010.
- ^ [13] Fxhsatochid. URL accessed on November 10, 2011.
- ^ [14] American Academy of Periodontology. URL accessed on November 10, 2010.
- ^ [15] Dean Tersigni. URL accessed on 2001-2003.
External links
- Bamboo Garden Icy-Crispy Dragon Beard Candy
- Noodles And Rice: Dragon Beard Candy
- DRAGON BEARD CANDY 龍鬚糖
- [16]
- [17]
Template:The Dragon's Beard Candy
Categories:- Chinese dessert
- Chinese confectionery
- Confectionery stubs
- Chinese cuisine stubs
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