New Year's Memories 1Introduction.
Today is New Year's Day and the first day of 2024, and while walking on the street, I heard the cries of rock sugar gourds and sugar snowballs, which reminded me of sugar snowballs, which are a traditional Chinese snack that dates back to the Ming Dynasty. According to records, during the Ming Dynasty, there was a snack called "sugar gourd" in the city of Beijing, which was made by skewers of hawthorn or strawberries dipped in syrup and coated with a layer of sesame or soybean flour.
During the Qing Dynasty, the production technology of sugar gourd was further developed, and a variety of different flavors and shapes appeared, such as sugar gourd, sugar snowball, sugar peanut, and so on. Among them, the sugar snowball is a kind of sugar gourd made from hawthorn, which is named because it resembles a snowball.
With the passage of time, the sugar snowball gradually spread throughout the country and became one of the traditional snacks in China. Now, sugar snowballs have become a very popular snack, not only sold all over China, but also popular in the international market.
It just so happens that the hawthorn, which is necessary in the sugar snowball, is also a seasonal object. Hawthorn is rich in vitamin C and a variety of organic acids, which can stimulate gastric juice secretion and enhance digestive function. It also contains lipase, which can help break down fats and improve digestion.
Hawthorn is rich in flavonoids and triterpenoids, which can lower blood cholesterol levels, thereby reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke. The flavonoids and triterpenoids in hawthorn can dilate blood vessels, increase blood flow, and lower blood pressure, thereby preventing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
The vitamin C and other antioxidants in hawthorn can boost immunity and prevent colds and other illnesses. The volatile oils and flavonoids in hawthorn can relieve asthma symptoms and reduce breathlessness. The organic acids in hawthorn can help by boosting metabolism and increasing energy expenditure. At this point, you may not be able to wait, so let's talk about the production steps.
2.Material Preparation:
Hawthorn, hot water, salt, sugar.
Choosing hawthorn should choose hawthorn with bright color, smooth surface, no obvious spots or scars, gently shake it with your hand, if the hawthorn makes a crisp sound, it means that the fruit is relatively firm; If it makes a dull sound, it means that the fruit is soft and not fresh.
Gently press the hawthorn with your fingers, if the fruit feels hard and elastic, it means that the fruit is relatively fresh; If it feels soft, the fruit is not fresh. Fresh hawthorn should have a light fruity aroma with no odor. Fresh hawthorn is bright in color and has a dark red or bright red color.
Cut off the stem of the hawthorn and put it in a bowl, after the hawthorn is all processed, add water to the pot of the hawthorn, and then add a spoonful of salt to soak for about 10 minutes, which can remove the pesticide residues on the surface of the hawthorn. After soaking the hawthorn, wash it with water again, and after the hawthorn is washed, put it on top of a breathable tool to dry the water.
3.Steps:
First of all, pour 150g of hot water and 300g of sugar into the pot, turn on the high heat to stir and melt the sugar, turn to low heat after the water in the pot boils, you can stir a few times when boiling, you don't need to keep stirring, boiling, with the reduction of water vapor in the pot
The white bubbles in the pot will become more and more, and slowly turn into many dense large bubbles, and then from large bubbles to slightly smaller bubbles, it will reach the state of frost we need.
Turn off the heat and wait for about 20 seconds to lower the temperature of the syrup a little, so that the hawthorn is not easy to break when stirring the skin.
Then pour the dried hawthorn into the pot, keep turning it with a shovel, so that each hawthorn can be coated with syrup, there can be no water on the surface of this hawthorn, otherwise it is not easy to hang frost, with the decrease of the syrup temperature, it will become more difficult to turn, the color of the syrup will slowly turn white and solidify, and when the temperature drops, it will be all coated with sugar.
4.Finished product display:
I've done Sugar Snowball many times, and the more I do it, the better it gets.
5.Conclusion:
The operation of the sugar snowball is not difficult, you can control the sweetness and hygiene of making it yourself, and you can make it with your children in a safe environment, so that children can experience the fun of selecting hawthorn and wrapping sugar, and feel the New Year's flavor accompanied by this strong traditional culture.