At that time, long-distance transportation was slow, but the emperor wanted to eat fresh fruit all year round. So a clever chef thought of this method, soaking the fruits of each season in honey in different categories, so that the emperor could eat fresh fruits at any time. Later, I invented the method of cooking with honey, which was also delicious.
Who knows, this production process was leaked by the chef and spread to the people, and ordinary people also had the opportunity to eat "fruit" all year round. As a result, Beijing soon had a small workshop specializing in the production of preserved fruits.
In many ancient historical books in China, there are records of preserved fruits with honey. The basic method is to boil fresh fruits in honey and concentrate them, and then remove a lot of water, so that they can be preserved for a long time. Therefore, it has another name-honey frying, which was passed around by everyone and became "preserved fruit".
However, now it is different from before. It is no longer boiled with honey, but with sugar. However, people are still used to calling it "preserved fruit".
As early as 19 13, the preserved fruit won the prize in Panama International Expo.
In fact, strictly speaking, Beijing candied fruit is divided into preserved fruit and candied fruit. According to the custom of Beijingers, preserved fruits with small water content and no juice are called preserved fruits. For example: preserved apple, preserved pear, preserved apricot, preserved peach, preserved sand fruit, preserved fragrant fruit, preserved begonia, preserved jujube (also known as golden silk candied dates), preserved green plum, preserved red fruit and so on. Preserved fruit is made by processing raw materials first, then boiling with sugar, and then drying. The color is brown, golden, amber and so on, which is bright and transparent. Although slightly sticky, the surface is dry, and the water content is generally lower than 20%. In the north, this kind of fruit product is also called "North Preserved Fruit" or "North Honey". In addition, there are "South Preserved Fruit" and "South Honey", which are from Fujian, Guangdong and Shanghai, with crisp texture and more sugar. For example, sugar-coated preserved fruits with a layer of powdered white sugar coat are hung on the surface of wax gourd strips, sugar water chestnuts and sugar lotus root slices.
As for candied fruit, it is a fruit product cooked with honey or sugar but not dried. The surface is moist and soft, and the water content is generally higher than 30%. For example, candied begonia and candied hawthorn, but these products are not easy to store and transport, so they have been rarely made in recent years, and only some self-produced and self-sold shops are supplying them.