Tanggua (Sugar Melon)

The white cane sugar that we know of in Malaysia was not something that our forefathers knew in Fujian in the olden days.

I was often told that in the olden days when my maternal grandmother was still a little girl maltose was used. Maltose was an extract from wheat or barley and is a very thick syrup like dark corn syrup. The syrup would be hardened in winter and she would have some treats of maltose in the form of little sticks or balls.

In Northern China, chefs use a lot of maltose in the preparation of Peking Duck. Maltose actually makes the skin of the duck very crispy.

Maltose since the ancient days is also considered a tonic, and the ill and the elderly are told to mix it with their tea. Again throughout history it was also used as a face mask by many women of wealth and high status.

It is fairly a widespread practice in olden day China that food was not sweetened by any kind of sugar or honey, except in Guangzhou and Wuxi.

However a lot of Chinese medicine contains maltose.

In Guangdong and some parts of China, a sticky maltose is shaped like a long stick and it is called Guangdong sugar. If you visit Guangdong before and after Chinese New Year, you will enjoy eating some of these Tanggua (sugar melon).

If it is flat and round, it is called tanggua (sugar melon). Tanggua can be hardened in the cold winter air and it really tastes good. It is crispy and fragrant. It is often used as an offering to the Kitchen God.