Eggplant candy - delicious Tet dish

(Baonghean.vn) - On the occasion of Lunar New Year, people in Do Luong, Thanh Chuong, Nam Dan... and many other rural areas often make the rustic, familiar eggplant candy to treat guests on the Spring day.

Eggplant candy is the name that people give to a type of rustic candy made from molasses, rice flour, roasted peanuts, fresh ginger… it looks like eggplants. Although the appearance of the candy is not as eye-catching as the candy of the craft villages, the quality is delicious, sweet and “first class”.

A family in Thanh Chuong makes eggplant candy on New Year's Eve

The ingredients are prepared a month in advance, but only when the peach blossoms have bloomed and the pot of Tet cakes has a faint fragrance, will the pot of eggplant candy begin to be stirred with molasses. Making eggplant candy is not difficult, it is both cheap and delicious, so every time Tet comes, people in my hometown are excited to make eggplant candy to celebrate Tet.

On New Year’s Eve, by the flickering fire, the pot of eggplant candy is placed on the stove, while heating, waiting for the molasses to “ripen” to make delicious candy. It seems that the cold of New Year’s Eve makes waiting for the moment of changing the watch next to the pot of homemade candy more interesting.

Although each region has its own secret, the technique of making eggplant candy has remained the same since ancient times. Boil the molasses until it boils, then when the molasses is dropped into a bowl of water and it settles at the bottom, add sticky rice flour, roasted peanuts, and fresh ginger and stir. This mixture is so sticky that you have to use “kitchen” chopsticks as big as your thumb and a strong person to stir the “old” pot of candy.

Ingredients for making eggplant candy on the stove

When pouring the candy onto a tray, everyone in the family will sit around the hot candy tray, together cutting and rolling them into candies as regular as eggplants. Nowadays, our people also make honey candy, although the form is different, the quality is the same as eggplant candy. The candy mixture is poured onto a table or hard plastic sheet, flattened into a rectangle or square. Place a wooden stick on top, use a knife to cut the candy into strips as long as a ruler, then cut them into small pieces like sweet potatoes and dry them in the summer sun.

To make a batch of delicious, crispy, fluffy, bright candy, the maker must master the technique, mix the mixture in the right proportions, and at the right time. Cooking the molasses for too long will make the candy hard and dark, and not enough time will make the candy soft and runny. After finishing, the candy is rolled in a layer of dry powder to prevent moisture, cooled and stored in a pot, waiting to be served to guests.

A batch of candy is ready to be rolled into balls.

Eating eggplant candy and drinking green tea on Tet holiday is a beautiful feature in the mind of Nghe people when thinking about Spring - Tet of their hometown. In the faint scent of incense, everyone sits and sips each eggplant candy, honey candy, feels the sweetness of honey, the richness of peanuts, the strong aroma of sticky rice, fresh ginger, listening to the "hometown flavor" spreading in the air of the coming Spring.

On the first day of the year, when visiting to wish a happy new year, on every guest table there are eggplant candy and honey candy. Among the many kinds of candies and cakes in the spring, everyone chooses eggplant candy to eat and taste, because it is a delicious, clean, safe product, showing the uniqueness and creativity in the feelings and thoughts of the simple country people.

Eggplant candy, along with green Chung cake and red parallel sentences, have contributed to making the traditional Tet holiday of each family more cozy, complete and imbued with the identity of the homeland.

In the market, although ready-made confectionery is extremely rich and eye-catching, eggplant candy still has its own place in the hearts of the villagers, the place where it was born. Modern life, with many fast and convenient foods and drinks, but also many disasters, so the culinary dishes "born from the village", are increasingly popular, including eggplant candy.

In the warm and harmonious atmosphere of the reunion day, the fragrant smell of eggplant candy has created a more Tet atmosphere for each family. Eggplant candy together with green Chung cake and red parallel sentences have contributed to making the traditional Tet holiday more warm, full and imbued with the identity of the homeland.

Huy Thu