China News Service, Ningde, Fujian Province, February 3, headline: Sweet stove candy welcomes the New Year and craftsmen celebrate the New Year.
Author Yu Shankang
"Zaotang! All kinds of freshly baked kitchen candies!" The 3rd is the traditional Chinese New Year in southern China. In the alleys of Qiongtang Village, Jinhan Township, Jiaocheng District, Ningde City, Fujian Province, shouts of people selling kitchen candies kept coming. The fragrance is filled with the sweetness of the New Year.
In recent days, Zhuo Wenwen, who has been engaged in the art of making stove candy for 32 years, has been getting up at 8 a.m. every morning to make stove candy. Pour in white sugar and maltose, bring to a boil, then add dried rice (processed rice), sesame seeds, and peanuts one by one. Stir-fry, pour out while hot, compact, shape, divide and bag... one process after another. Finally, the white rice cake is finished.
On January 31, Zao Tang craftsman Zhuo Wenwen made rice cakes. Photo by Yu Shankang
"On Lunar New Year's Eve, every household will buy all kinds of kitchen candies, and they usually include rice cakes." Zhuo Wenwen said while dividing the steaming rice cakes. The rice cakes are crispy and not sweet, and have a "better-looking (cake)" texture. The meaning of "sheng" is very popular with everyone.
After handing over the "task" of bagging rice cakes to his wife, Zhuo Wenwen started a new fire of his own. The glutinous rice flour falls like white snow. After stir-frying, taking pieces, kneading and shaping, in the hands of Zhuo Wenwen, the original ball of glutinous rice gradually turns into another kind of kitchen candy - glutinous rice candy.
"This is glutinous rice candy, which means reunion and prosperity; this is 'rat tail', so named because it looks like a mouse's tail." Within a few hours, Zhuo Wenwen made four kinds of kitchen candy on the spot. They come in different shapes and are really beautiful.
Zhuo Wenwen said that there are still some differences in the New Year customs in different places in Ningde, and everyone's New Year blessings are also various, so various kinds of kitchen candies were born.
The flavors of kitchen candy are also diversified. Pick up a piece of glutinous rice candy and put it in your mouth. The white sugar slowly melts in your mouth, leaving a fragrant taste in your mouth. Take a bite of the fondant sugar (squishy bean). The first taste is soft and glutinous, and the finer taste is sesame and peanut. The aftertaste is endless. The deliciousness of the rice cake is even more unique. The mixed sweetness of maltose and white sugar overflows in the mouth, making it crispy and refreshing.
On January 31st, Zhuo Wenwen, a craftsman of kitchen candies, displayed various kinds of kitchen candies. Photo by Yu Shankang
"No matter what kind of stove candy it is, it must be both beautiful and delicious." Zhuo Wenwen said that the arrival of the Little New Year heralds the coming of the Spring Festival, and people who study and work outside are also returning home one after another; eating some has both a beautiful meaning and a good taste. The sweet and delicious stove candy is indispensable for Ningde people during the Chinese New Year, so the demand for stove candy often exceeds supply.
In order to make the kitchen candy have the best color, aroma, taste and shape, Zhuo Wenwen prepared to purchase the raw materials half a month in advance. He said that during this period, he was busy until twelve o'clock in the evening every day, making thousands of kilograms of stove candy in a day, in order to "soothe homesickness and preserve the flavor of the New Year." (over)