If you visited your local Asian grocery store these past few weeks, you were probably treated to a section full of red decorations and various Chinese New Year treats.
I can’t help but stop at the colorful display section, and even though no one in my family really likes the overly sweet chinese new year candies, I always get a box. This year I chose a small one since I’m about the only one in my family that will nibble on these treats.
Chinese New Year candy usually consists of heavily sugar coated dried fruits and vegetables. You’ll usually find sugared yam, ginger, lotus root, kumquats, coconut, winter melon, water chestnuts, just to name a few. Some other treats you will usually see in the display are ready made Chinese New Year Cake (Nian gao), dried whole persimmons, and peanut cluster candies.
A lot of the times, the candies are put in a display tray like the one pictured. This was the smallest tray that Ranch 99 had to offer. The bigger the tray, the more items included. Usually I’ll buy a small tray, and then maybe buy a small bag of the items I like that are missing and add them to the tray.
My favorite treat is definitely the winter melon. It’s crunchy, and inside it tastes cold and watery. A very refreshing taste and you can see where the winter melon gets its name when you bite into these candies. I also like the lotus roots, yams, and water chestnuts.
In my tray, I have colorful shredded coconut, candied ginger (the light yellow one), candied winter melon (the white block/sticks), candied kumquats (orange wrappers), and the middle section are soursop gummy candy.
I will look for it.
P.S. – So glad I found your blog – it’s great! I have similar tastes in restaurants. Thanks for sharing.
Happy you found my blog too =) You should be able to find the candy soon. I get mine every year the few weeks leading up to the Lunar New Year from Ranch 99.
Wait! I just realized you are in San Diego – did you find it somewhere in Kearny Mesa?
Yes, they have it every year at Ranch 99! But only during CNY, it’s not usually around. But CNY is coming up in early February, so I except Ranch 99 will be stocking it very soon, if they haven’t already started. They even sold it at the Costcos in San Diego last year during CNY
Thanks for writing back so quick. We moved to San Diego a year and a half ago and none of the Asian markets have had it. My kids and I miss it as an occasional treat 🙁
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Do you know where I can buy the candied winter melon online? I cannot find it anywhere. Thanks!
Sorry, I have never bought it online, only in the Asian markets. Do you have any Asian markets near you? They should start selling the candies soon. I even saw it at Costco last year.
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I’m happy you liked my post. Soursop is a type of fruit. I’ve never had the pleasure of tasting the fruit by itself, but the candy is a bit sour tasting. You can see pics of a raw soursop at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soursop
this post is so awsome!!!! i love the way you write. but what is soursop?