Blowing candy

Beijing-native Hou Guiyin is keeping alive the age-old art of blowing candy into animal shapes.

HOU Guiyin is a candy vendor but what an amazing one he is!

The 30-year-old Beijing-native, who was at Ikano Power Centre in Selangor, for the Mid Autumn Festival promotions, drew plenty of “wows” when he blew dollops of caramel into balloons and shaped them into rats, snakes, cockerels, longevity gourds and other animal signs from the Chinese zodiac.

Hou is tang ren, meaning candy man in Chinese. The word is also a reference to the birth of the art of candy blowing during the Tang dynasty.

“I have a repertoire of over 100 animals ranging from ducks to elephants but I love cows the best. Dragons are the hardest and the easiest to make are, of course, balls,” said Hou through a Mandarin interpreter.

A member of the Beijing China Folk Artist Association, Hou learned the art of sugar figuring 15 years ago, and has since made the business of blowing sweet nothings into a full time job.

This candy blower has even made an appearance at Chinese film director Zhang Yi Mou’s daughter’s birthday party where he handed out his sweet treats to Zhang’s guests.

A cockerel taking shape as Hou Guiyin pipes his breath into a bubble of candy.

For the uninitiated, Hou explained that candy blowing began during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) in Dezhou, Shandong Province.

This era was considered the most glistening period of Chinese history where progress and stability had allowed Chinese culture to flourish.

Many innovations were made and one of them was in the field of sugar crafting as confectioners sought to outdo each other with their creativeness.

It is not surprising that candy blowers are often referred to as tang ren meaning people of the Tang dynasty.

“The art of candy blowing dates back 1,000 years but it is now a dying art in China. To date, only a hundred of us are left in the whole of China with no more than 10 in Beijing itself,” claimed Hou of this rare profession.

Of course, Hou is very proud to be a candy blower.

“The sweet by itself does not mean much but when you look back at history, you can liken it to serving up tradition on a stick. It is a reflection of China’s rich culture,” he affirmed.

Watching Hou at work makes sugar crafting look easy.

To start with, caramel is lifted up with a stick and then shaped into a single open-ended funnel with the insides dabbed with wheat flour to prevent them from sticking together.

Bird on a pig, a fanciful creation from Hou.

The hole is then closed and the ends pulled into the shape of a thread-like spout. Air is blown in via this spout and as the funnel expands into a sugar bubble, it is quickly shaped into the animal of choice.

All this has to be done in a matter of seconds before the sugar hardens and loses its pliability.

The finished product is then dabbed with food colouring to represent the eyes, mouth, wings of an animal which Hou would again blow on the paint to create the necessary streaks and spatters.

As such, every figure is unique because of the nature of the creation process.

With deft hands and some sculpting basics, anyone can give it a go, right?

Here was when Hou casually put a soft ball of sugar in my palm at which I yelped in pain.

“The first thing I had to learn was not how to shape my animals but to get used to the heat,” said Hou retrieving the sugar ball that I had dropped to roll it round his palm like a cool beach pebble.

Bear in mind that the melting point of sugar is 186°C.

While the soft ball of sugar that Hou had handed over would have been cooler than it was in liquid form, it would still be between 118 to 120°C. That’s still hotter than boiling water.

In fact, Hou admitted that he also went “ouch” the first time. Nevertheless, he got used to the heat after a couple of weeks to come out with his first creation, a bird.

This mini lantern like sculpture looks as good as it is yummy.

Heat issues aside, perhaps the heath conscious might want to ask if Hou’s sugar creations do not pose a health hazard.

At this, the Beijing artist and father of one would insist that he is in good health and affirms this with regular clinical check-ups.

Hou’s creations are edible as well as long lasting, should the buyer find his creations too pretty to eat.

“In Beijing, my sugar sculptures can last as long as 10 years, as long as they are kept in a dry place. In Malaysia, because of the humid weather, I don’t think it can last as long unless it is kept in the fridge,” he said.

What about ants, then?

Sorry, for that there is no guarantee, was Hou’s honest reply. And rightly so, but at least he can count on these insects as his most loyal fans.

Hou Guiyin displayed his creations at Carrefour Hypermarket in Kepong on October 5th 2008.