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Chinese Peanut Sesame Brittle

Posting Date: 01/22/18

Chinese Peanut Sesame Brittle can be found during Chinese New Year. Nowadays you can easily find it in the Asian grocery stores anytime. You can also find this treat outside China, especially in Southeast Asia and India. In Indonesia, it is called Teng Teng Kacang. Kacang means peanuts. Chinese Peanut Sesame Brittle may also use minced fresh ginger in the ingredients. In Indonesia, some Teng Teng Kacang may also have minced fresh ginger as well. If you like ginger, you can add it. I normally eat it as snacks but I think it should be categorized as dessert because it is sweet. Because of that, I categorize it under dessert. It is so delicious and very addicting. Who doesn't like sweet treats anyway! You can eat it during tea time as well.

To make it, you will need to chop the peanuts first. This will allow caramel to fill in all the gaps. You may feel intimidated making caramel. However, it is not that difficult as long as you keep an eye during cooking and get everything prepared because caramel hardens fast. So, make sure you grease the parchment paper and knife before you start making caramel. As soon as sugar turns to amber or golden brown color, you will need to remove it from the heat. You will then need to work fast to mix the peanuts and sesame seeds in the caramel. As soon as it is coated with caramel, you will need to put it on the greased parchment paper and cover it with another greased parchment paper before using a rolling pin to flatten the brittle. You should also not wait too long to cut the brittle or otherwise, it would be too hard to cut. Another important thing is to make sure you use heat resistant spoon when you mix the peanuts and sesame seeds with caramel because it is really hot. Wooden spoon will work while plastic won't.

The recipe makes about 9-10 brittles.

Ingredients:

1.5 cups of roasted unsalted peanuts
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
vegetable oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/3 cup water

Methods:

Chop the peanuts. Chopping the peanuts will make it easier for the caramel to fill in the gaps.
Mix peanuts with salt in a bowl. Add sesame seeds and mix them well.
This step needs to be done before proceeding to next steps because caramel hardens really fast and thus, everything should be ready before you start the next steps. Cut 2 parchment paper, the size of 11" by 11". For each parchment paper, grease one side with vegetable oil to prevent brittle from sticking on it. Lay the parchment paper with the greased side facing up on the kitchen counter. Grease both sides of the knife that will be used to cut the brittles with vegetable oil to prevent sticking during cutting.
Place 1 of the parchment paper on top of cutting board with the greased side facing up. This will be used to place and flatten brittle. The other parchment paper will be placed on top of the brittle so that the rolling pin will not stick to the brittle.
You will need a pot that has glass lid so that you can see the color of the sugar during cooking. The pot should not be too big or otherwise, you don't have enough liquid to cover the sugar. Put sugar, vinegar, and water into the pot. Turn on the stove to low heat and place the pot on the stove. Stir the liquid with wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar. It takes about 4-5 min to dissolve the sugar. Once the sugar has been dissolved, cover the pot with a lid and increase the heat to high. You should keep an eye and not walk away from the stove during cooking because the sugar can burn. It takes about 13 min to get to light amber color or reach temperature of 300 deg F. As soon as it becomes amber or golden brown color, remove the pot from the heat and add peanut sesame seed mixture into the pot. Stir it fast with wooden spoon so that the peanut sesame seed mixture is covered with the caramel. You have to work really fast since the caramel hardens very quicky. Spread the brittle on the parchment paper that is covering the cutting board. Place the other parchment paper with the greased side facing down. Using a rolling pin, quickly flatten the brittle so that it has an even layer across the brittle. Wait for about 3-4 min before you cut the brittle; however, don't want to wait too long or otherwise, it would be hard to cut the brittle. You can cut it to any size you want. I normally cut it to 2" by 1".
Let it cool down first before eating. Keep it in an airtight container if you have any leftover.

Notes:

Make sure you have greased parchment paper and greased knife ready before you start cooking the sugar.
Use heat resistant spoon when mixing peanuts and sesame seeds with caramel because caramel is very hot.

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