‘Do not make tanghulu in the microwave,’ doctors warn, as kids get burned by viral recipe

The pleasing crackle of biting into tanghulu, a Chinese snack that has taken over social media, isn’t without its risks. Doctors worldwide are raising the alarm about the TikTok trend after children have gotten burned attempting to make “glass fruit” in the microwave.

In China, street vendors often make tanghulu with hawthorn berries resembling bright-red crab apples encased in crystallized sugar. On social media, creators have embraced the traditional dessert, making it their own by threading a range of fruits, such as strawberries and grapes (and even fried chicken), onto skewers and dipping them into sugar syrup.

To make the glassy, brightly coloured candy, the syrup must reach the “hard crack” stage at 149 degrees Celsius (300 degrees Fahrenheit). The issue with the method many creators promote on social media is that the “ideal” container for heating syrup to such high temperatures is a metal saucepan, food scientist, pastry chef and dietitian Ann Reardon said in a debunking video on her YouTube channel, How To Cook That — and metal can’t go in the microwave.

Reardon explains that even microwave-safe plastic can’t withstand the high temperatures required to make tanghulu, and thermal shock can cause some glass and ceramics to “explode.”

Children and teens have been “seriously burned — with several needing skin grafts” — after attempting the viral tanghulu hack. “A lot of these toffee incidents happened in a plastic cup in the microwave, and the toffee just burns straight through that cup and drops onto hands, abdomens or feet,” Monique Bertinetti, a surgeon at The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, told The Herald Sun.

As Reardon concludes, “Do not make tanghulu in the microwave.” Instead, make it in a metal saucepan on the stovetop. “And if you’re a kid, you need adult supervision, covered in shoes and preferably silicon gloves to give you a little bit of protection because it is super, super hot.”

Shriners Children’s Boston surgeon Colleen Ryan raised concerns about the trend in a statement on Aug. 14. She said that the hospital had seen an increase in children coming in with “severe burn injuries” caused by spilling hot sugar. Two of Ryan’s patients were burned trying to make tanghulu in just one week.

“When sugar is melted in the microwave like this, it has a high heat capacity, meaning it stores the heat energy,” said Ryan. “If spilled, it can create a severe scald burn, much like spilling hot soup, but it can cause a much deeper burn because of sugar’s properties. Kids or teens can quickly grab the pot or bowl, and the hot fluid splashes, spills or splatters over them. The result is one or several small but very deep burns, often in critical areas such as the hand or the face.”

If a child gets burned, Ryan recommends removing any clothing from the affected area, running cool tap water over it for 20 minutes, and seeking medical attention if needed. Using water instead of ice or frozen peas helps cool the injury and can prevent the burn from going deeper.

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our cookbook and recipe newsletter, Cook This, here.