Tanghulu is a Chinese street food typically made by skewering fresh hawthorn berries and covering them in crystallised sugar. While the treat has been widely available in Asia for centuries, we’ve only recently started seeing the proliferation of tanghulu in the West. (Its Tiktok fame also stirred controversy recently, as people debated tanghulu’s country of origin.)

Today’s tanghulu makers are experimenting with a much wider assortment of fruits like strawberries, oranges, grapes and even tomatoes, giving rise to a dessert skewer resembling a string of shiny gems, irresistible to tastebuds and cameras alike.

Wei Yu Jie hails from China and is the owner of Melbourne tanghulu spot Shang Chun Shan. She tells Broadsheet the perfect tanghulu should have a sweet and crisp outer coating with a juicy piece of fruit in the middle. It sounds simple, but the balance between the sweetness of the sugar and the slight acidity of the fruit distinguishes the best from the rest.

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Here are three places around town offering different takes on the candied fruit skewer.

Tanghulu Melbourne, CBD

This aptly-named tanghulu takeaway joint is the new kid on Lonsdale Street, after opening in June. Run by Sub Lim, chef and owner of Ssam Korean BBQ and Stubborn Pig, Tanghulu Melbourne focuses on Korean-style tanghulu, which tend to have a thinner sugar coating and usually don’t use hawthorn berries.

Lim says the shop’s coating, made from refined white sugar and other additives is “glossier, crunchier and thinner” than your average tanghulu.

The tanghulu here is made from eight different fruits including kiwi, pineapple and shine muscat grapes. You can also enjoy them in the form of fresh fruit juice and flavoured milk. Sourced from a wholesale market in Epping, the fruit is hand-sorted every morning and “returned without hesitation” if not on par.

Shop 3/364-372 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
0413717834

Hours:
Mon to Thur 11.30am–10.30pm
Fri to Sun 11.30am–11pm

Mr Sweet Honey, Glen Waverley

Enter The Glen shopping centre from the O’Sullivan Drive entrance and find Mr Sweet Honey on the ground floor. In addition to tanghulu, the little confectionary counter sells all things sugar, such as fairy floss crafted to look like Kirby and Pikachu.

Mr Sweet Honey has been open for two years and has a smaller variety of tanghulu. It specialises in strawberry skewers and traditional candied hawthorn berries. You can also get deluxe tanghulu made with hawthorn berries that are stuffed with fillings like sesame, red bean, glutinous rice, mung bean and chestnuts before they’re coated in sugar – but you have to call and order the stuffed tanghulu in advance.

The Glen, Kiosk K0014, Springvale Road, Glen Waverley
0416301313

Hours:
Mon to Wed 9.30am–5.30pm
Thur to Fri 9.30am–9pm
Sat 9.30am–5pm
Sun 10am–5pm

Shang Chun Shan, CBD

This shop shares a storefront with House Blend Coffee on King Street and specialises in tanghulu and tiramisu (there’s even a meat floss tiramisu on the menu).

The tanghulu has a classic rock sugar glaze and Wei tells Broadsheet the bestsellers are the strawberry and green grape versions.

Shang Chun Shan also sells tanghulu-adjacent candied apples. Shang Chun Shan’s versions are inspired by the now-closed Daikanyama Candy Apple Harajuku in Japan, and are coated with different flavoured powders including matcha, cocoa, cinnamon and popping candy.

3/280 King Street, Melbourne
0434041836

Hours:
Wed to Mon 3pm–midnight