Sticky Hairy Apples

When you have a set class schedule you also have set lunch buddies. And our campus has limited restaurant options. There are two decent restaurants, so we alternate. And sometimes, yes, we get bored and order strange things for a little variety.

This week it was toffee apples. A group behind us had them and my colleague said they were good. So, some minutes later a massive pile of hot toffee apples appeared on our table.

They are not your traditional 'apple on a stick coated in toffee and wrapped in red cellophane' variety. These are much nicer and slightly easier to eat. They are freshly cooked pieces of apple, battered, and then covered in toffee. They are served with a bowl of cold water because the toffee is so fresh that it develops these fine toffee hairs when you pick it up. You have to dip it in the water to cool the toffee, and stop the hairs from growing, then eat it slowly – because it's still really hot inside.

But you have to eat the dish quickly. Because once the apples get cold, they solidify into hard lumps that stick together and break your teeth! And of course, this is China, so the apples (dessert) always arrive before your main course! The worst part is, I'm starting to enjoy the sweet as a starter. I'll come back to the Western world having learned to spit bones onto the table, eat dessert first, and yell for the waiter without even looking. Oh dear! You just can't take some people anywhere!!