Dragon's beard candy ( zh, t=龍鬚糖, s=龙须糖, p=lóng xū táng, first=t) or Chinese cotton candy or Longxusu ( zh, t=龍鬚酥, s=龙须酥, p=lóng xū sū) is a handmade traditional Chinese confectionary similar to floss halva or Western

cotton candy Cotton candy, also known as candy floss (candyfloss) and fairy floss, is a spun sugar confection that resembles cotton. It is made by heating and liquefying sugar, and spinning it centrifugally through minute holes, causing it to rapidly cool ...

. Dragon's beard candy was initially created in China, but was soon popularized in other parts of

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

and

South East Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

. It became a regional delicacy in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

in the 1990s,

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

in the 1980s, then in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It has a low

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

content (19%) and low

saturated fat A saturated fat is a type of fat in which the fatty acid chains have all single bonds between the carbon atoms. A fat known as a glyceride is made of two kinds of smaller molecules: a short glycerol backbone, and fatty acids that each cont ...

content (2%). By comparison,

is fat free with a very high

content (94%). Dragon's beard candy has a very short

shelf life Shelf life is the length of time that a commodity may be stored without becoming unfit for use, consumption, or sale. In other words, it might refer to whether a commodity should no longer be on a pantry shelf (unfit for use), or no longer on a s ...

. It is highly sensitive to moisture and tends to melt in warm temperatures.

History

According to legend, dragon's beard candy was invented during the Chinese

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

Ng Yan Yan. URL accessed on April 14, 2009. by an imperial court chef who entertained the

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

one day by performing the complicated steps in making a new confection, which involved stretching a dough-like mixture composed from

rice flour Rice flour (also rice powder) is a form of flour made from finely milled rice. It is distinct from rice starch, which is usually produced by steeping rice in lye. Rice flour is a common substitute for wheat flour. It is also used as a thickening ...

into small, thin strands. These strands reminded the emperor of a dragon's beard, and were sticky enough to adhere to one's face easily, so the concoction was named. The name may also be attributed to the status of the mythical

dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

as a symbol of the Chinese emperor, so presenting the confection as Dragon's Beard Candy was deemed acceptable due to the social nature of the candy. It was reserved only for the

ruling class In sociology, the ruling class of a society is the social class who set and decide the political and economic agenda of society. In Marxist philosophy, the ruling class are the class who own the means of production in a given society and apply ...

due to the complexity of the preparation process. Nevertheless, the art has resurfaced in tourist destinations such as street festivals.

Preparation

Traditionally, it is made from sugar and

maltose syrup } Maltose ( or ), also known as maltobiose or malt sugar, is a disaccharide formed from two units of glucose joined with an α(1→4) bond. In the isomer isomaltose, the two glucose molecules are joined with an α(1→6) bond. Maltose is the two ...

, although recipes based on

corn syrup Corn syrup is a food syrup that is made from the starch of corn/maize and contains varying amounts of sugars: glucose, maltose and higher oligosaccharides, depending on the grade. Corn syrup is used in foods to soften Mouthfeel, texture, add vol ...

are now used in the United States. The main ingredients include approximately 75 grams of fine white sugar, 75 grams of

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large ...

s, 75 grams of

desiccated Desiccation is the state of extreme dryness, or the process of extreme drying. A desiccant is a hygroscopic (attracts and holds water) substance that induces or sustains such a state in its local vicinity in a moderately sealed container. ...

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

, 38 grams of white

sesame Sesame (; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a plant in the genus '' Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for ...

seeds, 150 grams of maltose syrup, and 1 bowl of glutinous rice flour.

Comparison to cotton candy

Both cotton candy and dragon's beard candy are made of sugar and share the characteristic of notable stickiness and a high sensitivity to

moisture Moisture is the presence of a liquid, especially water, often in trace amounts. Moisture is defined as water in the adsorbed or absorbed phase. Small amounts of water may be found, for example, in the air (humidity), in foods, and in some comme ...

. Both substances will clump together when exposed to the air for a certain amount of time. However, cotton candy has a larger surface area, thus allowing a small amount of sugar to generate into a greater volume of product. Its serving on each stick is 37 grams, including food dyes and flavor, containing around 110 calories per serving. While dragon's beard candy contains a lower content of sugar (7.2 grams), it contains a slightly higher caloric content of 141.2, and a higher fat content (6.1 grams), compared to cotton candy, typically containing 0g of fat. This is due to the peanuts, sesame seeds, and other ingredients, whereas cotton candy is close to 100% sugars. The nutritional value of the wrapping alone is essentially identical to that of cotton candy.

References

External links

About Asia's Dragon's Beard Candy Master

Noodles And Rice: Dragon Beard Candy

DRAGON BEARD CANDY 龍鬚糖

Department of Journalism and Communication, Hong Kong Shue Yan University – 香港樹仁大學新聞與傳播學系
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504023858/http://hknews.hksyu.edu/index.php/%E9%BE%8D%E9%AC%9A%E7%B3%96 , date=2021-05-04
International News Report on Dragon Beard Candy
Candy Chinese confectionery Pulled candy

History

Preparation

Comparison to cotton candy

See also

References

External links