Longtan Peanut Candy 龙潭花生糖

Longtan Peanut Candy (龙潭花生糖) is the peanut confectionery of Longtan District (龙潭区) in Taoyuan (桃园), best known in its soft form, peanut soft candy (花生软糖), which is the souvenir Longtan is best known for. It is counted among Taoyuan's local specialities alongside Daxi dried tofu (大溪豆干).

Where it comes from

In its early days Longtan grew tea and also took on processing trades to supplement household income, and peanut candy was the most important of these. Repeated trial and improvement turned it into the soft peanut candy now known across Taiwan. In a 2007 public vote for Taoyuan's ten best souvenirs, peanut soft candy from two Longtan makers, Liyi Foods (立义食品) and Lungching Foods (龙情食品), was chosen.

How it is made

Lungching, whose shop is in Longtan, traces its candy to 1971; Wen Guangshi (温光士) set up the brand in 1991 and named it for "Longtan true feeling" (龙潭真情). The Taoyuan tourism site says the company follows traditional methods and was the first to overcome the stickiness of old-style peanut candy. Its candy mixes plump peanuts with thick maltose and with sesame, seaweed and coriander.

Flavour and texture

The Taoyuan city government's economic development department describes the Lungching candy as sweet without being cloying, and the same site calls it crisp and fragrant rather than sticky.