Candied fruit is a traditional food with national characteristics in China. It is refined from fresh fruits (including some vegetable varieties), sugar and honey through processing (including pretreatment, boiling, soaking and drying). It has a certain color, fragrance, taste and shape, and has a history of more than 2000 years.
I. Variety:
(1) candied fruit: raw materials are candied and honey processed, and the finished products are soaked in a certain concentration of sugar solution, which is slightly transparent, such as honey kumquat, osmanthus fragrans, peeled olives, etc. ?
(2) Sand returning: After the raw materials are boiled with sugar, the surface of finished products is dry with frost, such as candied wax gourd strips, golden dates, kumquat cakes, etc. ?
(3) Preserved sugar: the raw material is candied sugar, and after drying, the surface of the finished product is not sticky, and it has a transparent feeling, and sugar-free cream is precipitated, such as preserved apricots, pineapples (slices, blocks and cores), ginger candy slices and papaya (strips and grains). ?
(4) Preserved fruits: sweeteners, spices, etc. When added to raw materials in the process of sugaring or boiling sugar, the finished product has a dry surface and a strong fragrance, such as clove, Li Xuehua Ruth, Bazhen plum, plum-flavored kumquat and so on. ?
(5) Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch product: The raw material is fruit blank, which is soaked with food additives such as sugar and licorice, and then dried. The finished product has three flavors of sweet, sour and salty, such as preserved plum, licorice olive, dried tangerine peel and preserved plum. ?
(6) Fruit cake: the raw materials are processed into paste, and after concentrated drying, the finished products are in the shape of slices, strips and blocks. Such as hawthorn cake, appetizing kumquat, peony bark, etc.
Second, the factions of China candied fruit
Candied fruit can be divided into Beijing flavor, Guangdong flavor, Jiangsu flavor and Fujian flavor according to local flavor.
Beijing-style candied fruit, also known as Beijing candied fruit, originated in Beijing, among which preserved apples, golden dates and golden cakes are the most famous. Beijing-style candied fruit is characterized by transparent fruiting body and dry surface. The ingredients are simple, but the dosage is large. The entrance is soft and sweet.
Cantonese-style candied fruit, which originated in Guangzhou and Chaozhou, is famous for its candied lotus, candied orange cake and buttered plum. Its characteristics are: dry noodles, sweet or sour.
Suzhou-flavored candied fruit originated in Suzhou, including candied fruit produced in Suzhou, Shanghai and Wuxi. Among them, candied figs, kumquat cakes and white sugar bayberry are the most famous. The characteristics of Soviet-style candied fruit are: there are many kinds of ingredients, mainly sweet and sour, salty and sweet, with endless aftertaste.
Mincai preserves originated in Quanzhou and Zhangzhou, Fujian. Among them, Dafu Fruit, Jia Yingzi and Shi Xiangguo are the most famous. Min-style candied fruit is characterized by many kinds of ingredients, large dosage, sweet taste and rich aftertaste.