Candied Gourd

Candied Gourd could evoke childhood memories of every Chinese, including me. It's almost the favorite nosh of all the children. It has been a common scene in a Chinese novel or an old movie that a man holds a bunch of Candied Gourd with several children around him in the alley. I was once a member of those children anxiously waiting for a string of Candied Gourd. Nothing for me is sweeter than Candied Gourd, the taste of childhood.

As an American, you may be curious about the Candied Gourd is. Actually it is made of haws indeed but is called gourd. People skewer about ten haws on a wooden stick and coat the haws with a thin layer of syrup. The syrup would become solid in a few minutes so it makes the haws taste a bit like candies. Since the haws are really sour, I don't like eat them directly. Also it won't attract me so much if the the Candied Gourd is made up of sugar lumps which are as sweet as candies. Only the perfect combination of sour haws and sweet syrup would make the Candied Gourd so tempting.

Now I'm going to tell you the procedures to make Candied Gourd. First of all, pick some fresh haws (sometimes people would add other fruits like strawberries and oranges along with haws in the Candied Gourd) adn cut out the kernels with a knife. And then skewer them together. The second step is perparing syrup. You should put some sugar and a half volume of water into a pot and cook them with high fire for 20 minutes. The time and intensity of fire should be controlled carefully. If the cooking time is short, the syrup would be so sticky; if the time is too long, it would taste bitter. (I can only tell these steps, but can't do it well) Finally you only have to dip the skewered haws in the hot syrup adn cool them until solid. Hopefully you can make a delicious Candied Gourd by yourself.

Candied Gourd only belongs to childhood. It has been a few years since I last ate it. Every time I saw a little kid enjoying Candied Gourd, my sweet and sour childhood would appear in the mind.