Hong Kong candy to scream for

Old-school Hong Kong candy adds local flavor to the most non-local of customs: trick-or-treating

By Zoe Li, Virginia Lau, Sam Or 26 October, 2011

Every dental health-conscious mom's nightmare; Everybody else's sweet dream.

Haw flakes, made from the fruit of Chinese hawthorn, are tart and sweet. They are traditionally taken after drinking bitter Chinese medicinal teas. Chinese people were way ahead of Mary Poppins' game.

Peanut brittle. Crunchy nutty goodness, encased in crispy black sesame candy, makes a great snack for TV watching.

Hong Mao coconut candy tastes like roasted coconut dipped in rich caramel. The hard candy is guaranteed to cure the worst of sugar cravings and lasts a long time.

Date candy with walnuts is covered in edible rice paper to keep it from sticking to the cellophane wrapping.

Sugar and spice: Chewy, juicy ginger candy with just the right degree of heat.

We're digging the retro design on this hard nougat.

Hong Kongers are particularly fond of Sugus. The candy's Cantonese moniker "sui see tong" means "Swiss candy" and is a household name.

Other imported candies we've fully embraced as our own are Rowntree's chewy fruit pastilles and Mentos.

Doesn't look very nice, but sucking on one of these tablets is like having a mouthful of Horlicks, that wholesome malt and milk drink.

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Two things that keep Halloween popular in Hong Kong every year:

1. Candy for the kiddies.

2. Excuse for grown-up male kiddies to dress up as women.

For the former, here's a gallery of some of our favorite candy. It's all the good, sweet stuff that Hong Kongers grew up with and never grew out of.

Buy old-school Hong Kong candy at any Wellcome or ParknShop, or at a traditional dried goods store along Des Voeux Road in Sheung Wan.

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