Cycle 15 – Item 255

16 (Mon) September 2024

Almond Brittle

3.5

by me

at the Cabin

-Changchon, Seowon, Hoengseong, Gangwon, Republic of Korea-

with the Family, Mom + Dad, maternal kin

While my mother’s extended family will converge at the cabin tomorrow to celebrate Chuseok, we arrived the day before.

The pre-dinner this evening was a combined Chinese spread, Mom making crab in black bean sauce + stir-fried beef & vegetables, while I made mushu shrimp + crab & corn soup.

Almond Brittle is an American dish.  A simple candy made with sugar + corn syrup + roasted almonds – or other nuts, most commonly peanuts – heated to reach the “hard crack stage” (146 C or 295 F), leavened with butter + baking soda, then spread onto a sheet to cool, eventually becoming brittle, broken into bite-sized pieces.

I was inspired to make brittle following my recent experience with See’s Candies (see generally 15.200 Nuts & Chews), which is famous for peanut brittle.

Took a few attempts to succeed – the key is patience in waiting for the syrup to reach the right temperature; it quickly reaches 100 C, then seems to stall, but after 10 minutes or so, the temperature will eventually rise to 146 C.

I made a batch for Chuseok, packaged the pieces into small containers, and gave them out to everyone.

(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)

(See also RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)