Ever come across this monolithic street food?
This woman in Urumqi, Xinjiang is hacking away at something called matang, (麻糖), loosely translated as “rough sugar.” It typically has a base of walnuts/almonds/peanuts, all bound together sugar syrup, and dotted by raisins, walnuts, and perhaps candied fruit.
If you have ever tried matang, you’ve probably only ever had one that measures a 1 (like talc) or a 10 (like diamond) on the Mohs hardness scale. Either way, consuming it helps support the dentists on vacations foundation.
But why did I mention the word “arch-nemesis” in the title?
Firstly, the scale that the vendors would use was normally rusty and broken. There was never a set price, even after there was a set price.
Most of the time, when I’d go buy some, I’d either get slapped by the vendor, or given a small bag for free. The vendors – all Uyghurs – presumed I was from their region, and became irate when I couldn’t speak more than a couple of words of Uyghur.
Worse yet, in the average bite, there were often bits of plastic or worse, glass.
In spite of those easily avoidable issues, matang became my favorite Chinese street food. Maybe it was the lack of similar snacks in supermarkets and convenience stores. Perhaps I felt bad whenever the police would scatter them, a very frequent occurrence. Or, it could be that every fourth bite was delicious, a hard-won battle paying off in an instant.
On recent trips to the mainland, I haven’t come across matang. This visit to Urumqi was way before COVID-19; not to mention, no one gets more guff from the fuzz than the Uyghurs.
In a backhanded way, this is my paean to matang. In another way, I’d like to know if any of you have tried this street food, and/or you’ve seen them lately around China.
