Blowing Sugar Figures
From: Leah
“My hometown is Beijing, China. The handmade work in the picture, shaped like a pig, is called tangren (sugar figure). Tangren are most commonly found at temple fairs during the Chinese New Year or in tourist areas in Beijing. As the name suggests, tangren are made from melted maltose. A softened piece of sugar is pinched off to form a shape like a straw, then someone blows air into it, causing the sugar to inflate. Finally, it is molded into the desired shape.
I remember when I was a child, every time we visited the park during traditional festivals, there would be many people selling tangren. They would give you the sugar and let you blow air into it, then shape it. The pig-shaped tangren in the picture is one I bought last time. It is very crispy and very sweet.”