Dragon’s beard candy

Captain's Log, Stardate 02.18.2009

We just “celebrated” Chinese New Year’s—I say “celebrated” because we don’t really do anything special, but we notice, “Oh, hey, Happy Chinese New Year.” “You, too.”

Captain Caffeine had gotten these Dragon’s beard candies from his coworker, who had brought them back from China or Japan (I can’t remember, they’re Chinese candy but the coworker might have bought them in Japan).





Now, in all my years married to a Chinese man and with many Chinese friends, I have to say I’ve never eaten Dragon’s beard candy before. But I’m always game for new foods, so I gave it a go in honor of Chinese New Years.

It’s not really sweet, it’s only mildly sweet. And it’s flavored with green tea, which gives it a bitter tang. The bitter and sweet together is actually very interesting and not unpleasant, but very different from anything else I’ve ever tasted.

It also has finely ground nuts, and the threads are fine and crispy, so there’s the mildly sweet, the bitter, the nutty, and the crispy, all rolled into one little bite.

If you ever get a chance to try one, go for it. I don’t know if you’d like it—I’m used to weird Asian food and while I didn’t hate it, I wasn’t wild for it, either. But it’s worth it to try at least once.