A Chinese-Canadian Experience
Andrea Chiang (they/them) // Contributing Writer
Andrei Gueco(he/him) // Visuals
Mia Rui Chao Antinori (they/them) // Visuals
White Rabbit Creamy Candy 大白兔奶糖
The White Rabbit Creamy Candy 大白兔奶糖 (Dàbáitù Nǎitáng) is a Chinese brand of milk candy. It’s a cream-white, cylindrical soft candy with a chewy texture similar to taffy. They’re wrapped in a transparent, edible sticky rice wrapper and a waxed paper wrapper with an image of a white rabbit printed across.
I grew up eating these candies during Chinese New Year whenever my relatives would meet for our big family gatherings. I remember my first time trying it, I peeled the sticky rice wrapper, only to be told that I’m supposed to eat it without peeling. It was so strange, as it was the first time I heard of such a thing. Even stranger was how delicious it tasted. The paper melted in my mouth almost instantly, and the candy had such a unique texture. Every Chinese New Year, I’d hoard all the White Rabbit candies I could find, like it was my secret stash of Halloween sweets. I always thought it was a very niche and unique candy that only I and a select few knew. It always felt like a secret token of my childhood. Something special and given to me only. But, as I grew up, I learned that a lot of people, even non-Chinese people, knew of the candy. I would find myself being surprised to see it appear as an ice cream flavour in my neighbourhood ice cream shop, or as keychains and stickers from local art markets. What was once just a childhood candy turned into an icon for a shared cultural identity.
Funny enough, this might have been the initial intent of the White Rabbit candy maker. It was initially designed in response to the growing rise of Disney’s Mickey Mouse symbol, and has now become a symbol of Chinese culture. Generations of children since 1943 have grown up eating this candy during the Chinese New Year, so it is no surprise that the candy has become another traditional sweet in Chinese celebrations.
Tangyuan 汤圆 is a traditional Chinese dessert that dates back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279 C.E.). It’s made of glutinous rice balls about the size of ping-pong balls and served in a hot broth or syrup, sometimes with filling. They have a soft, chewy texture similar to Japanese Mochi. They often have a black sesame or crushed peanut filling. However, Tangyuan is a versatile dessert and can come in other fillings, made sweet or savoury, be coloured, fried or boiled. They can also be served with a Cantonese sweet dessert soup called Tongsui 糖水.
I can’t recall the first time I had tangyuan, but I remember my mom would make them every week during the COVID-19 lockdowns. It was always a nice dessert to share with my parents; I didn’t enjoy drinking the tongsui, but they did. I just really loved the peanut filling, which was balanced well with the plain glutinous rice ball. My mom would always forget to watch the stove, and—on several occasions—the tangyuan would inflate until they exploded. The peanut sesame innards would mix with the tongsui, leaving behind the skin of the glutinous rice ball. My parents didn’t mind since they enjoyed drinking the tongsui. As for me, after eating one too many disembowelled remains of tangyuan, I ended up keeping an eye on the stove. Eventually, I learned how to make it myself. It was one of my first experiences cooking for myself and for my family. I grew to be obsessed with them, especially the peanut-filling tangyuan. I recently made it for my partner when he got sick. It’s always nice to introduce new foods that I grew up with to him. I’ve grown accustomed to growing up in a predominantly Chinese neighbourhood, so to see someone’s reaction when they eat food from my culture—food that I made—it hits different. It’s a feeling of connection I never experienced before.
It’s fitting that tangyuan 汤圆 is a homophone for the Chinese word reunion 团圆 (tuányuán). The dessert symbolizes togetherness and completeness, symbolized in the roundness of the dessert itself. It’s why they aren’t only traditionally eaten during the Lantern Festival 元宵节 (yuánxiāo jié), but they’re also eaten during holidays like Chinese New Year and the Winter Solstice Festival 冬至 (Dōngzhì) and other celebrations such as weddings and family reunions.
Gingerbread Houses (Lebkuchenhaus) are small buildings made from cookies, composed of cut and baked gingerbread walls and roofing. The gingerbread walls and roofing are glued together with icing and are often decorated with various candies. Although the history of gingerbread dates back to the 13th century in Germany, the recipe has evolved over the centuries. Nowadays, most gingerbread is made from a dough that consists of flour, butter, brown sugar, molasses, eggs and spices like ginger, cinnamon and cloves.
When I was a kid, I used to build and decorate gingerbread houses with my sister. I have always loved the look of the gingerbread house because of how iconic a Christmas symbol it is. When I see gingerbread house kits on the store shelves, I feel the holiday spirit in me start to bloom. Even though I wasn’t allowed to eat the hard candies or the stale gingerbread in these kits, I’d always eat the leftover icing with my sister. It was our thing. Last year, I hosted a Christmas party for my class, and we made gingerbread people from raw dough. For once, I got a taste of gingerbread properly cooked and fresh from the oven. It was amazing. I had no idea it would taste like a sweet cookie with a bit of a spicy kick. I had fun eating and making my own gingerbread shapes with the cookie cutters. It was also nice seeing what everyone else made with their cookie dough. One person made Chill Guy from the chill guy meme, and another made Gojo from the anime ‘Jujutsu Kaisen.’ It was a great bonding experience with my classmates and an icebreaker for all of us at the start of our two-year diploma program together. Strangely enough, it felt nostalgic and yet much more cozy and warm compared to what I experienced as a kid. Tasting the treats and spending time with more people who are also having fun can make a memory sweeter.