The candy has the sweet taste of sugar, the flesh of sesame, the fat of peanuts, often enjoyed with a cup of delicious tea.

When visiting Nam Dinh city in the early spring days, the specialty that tourists often see for sale is Siu Chau candy. This is also a gift that people often buy to eat on the occasion of the Lunar New Year or give each other. Along with vermicelli and beef noodle soup, these sweets are three gifts from Nam Dinh honored by the Vietnam Record Organization in the list of 100 dishes and specialties of 63 provinces and cities in mid-2021.

Freshly released candies are pinkish brown, clear like amber, and not too sweet. Photo: Linh Tran

Referring to Siu Chau candy, many people think that this is a dish of the Chinese people. In fact, candy was created by Do Phuc Nhat, a native of Nam Dinh, more than 200 years ago. Since the 1860s, the Do family’s candy shop has been famous throughout the South. The shop doesn’t have a sign, so people just tell each other about the candy store in front of the Chaozhou Temple, which was established by the Fujian people when they migrated. Gradually, people called the candy store “Trieu Chau”, then it was misread as “Sìu Chau” or “Sìu” candy.

The ingredients for making Siu Chau candy are peanuts or peanuts mixed with sesame, combined with sugar, fragrant glutinous rice, or malt. To make delicious candy, the most important thing is to have good ingredients. Peanuts must be selected very carefully and must be peanuts that are not too big, even, thin, pink skin, lotus petals and greasy. The sugar must be of the finest white diameter. The candy has a sweet, aromatic taste, which is very suitable for eating with hot condensed tea. Candy is usually rectangular, long and as big as a finger. In many places, candy is square.

In the crispy candy, there is the greasy taste of sesame and peanuts, the sweetness of sugar, and the complex aroma of yellow sticky rice. Siu Chau candies do not stick to their teeth, can be kept for a long time without watering or drooling. Depending on the manufacturer, the candy can be yellow, or pinkish brown, looking like amber.

There are many establishments that produce sì, as well as the prices. A box of 300 grams costs 55,000 VND. Photo: Linh Tran

In Nam Dinh city, there are many establishments selling this type of candy. One of the places that many people love is a small shop located on Hang Sat Street. This whole street has only one shop selling Siu Chau candy and is a family heirloom shop. The price of each pack of peanut candies is from 110,000 VND for a 500g box and 120,000 VND for sesame bars.