Most of the people of Kinmen are descendants of emigres from China's Fujian Province. As a result, Kinmen's cultural landscape, and even its culinary interests, preserve much of its Fujianese heritage. Tribute candy is perhaps the island's most famous culinary treat, and many would argue that the tribute candy of Kinmen is even better than that of Fujian.
Tribute candy, a blend of peanuts and maltose, was originally called "ground candy" in Fujian because the peanuts used in making it are ground continuously to give it the proper crumbly texture. The name changed on Kinmen because few of the ROC soldiers who secured the island understood the Fujianese word for "grind." These soldiers instead took to calling the candy "tribute candy," and the new name, which has a similar sound as well as conveying an air of imperial quality, stuck.
Tribute candy was first brought to Kinmen from Xiamen by master-candy-maker Chen Shih-ming in 1931. But while tribute candy has its origins in Fujian, most people agree that the candy of Kinmen is even better than that of Xiamen, in part because Kinmen's dry soil produces a smaller, rounder and more flavorful peanut.
According to Chen Chin-chin, Chen Shih-ming's eldest son and the proprietor of Master Po's Tribute Candy, the traditional "bamboo-leaf" and "pig's foot" varieties are currently the most popular. Chen also says that appreciating good tribute candy requires a certain amount of connoisseurship.
Bamboo-leaf tribute candies are a crunchy treat eaten whole. Popping a bamboo leaf into your mouth, you feel it disintegrate in a minor explosion that fills every corner of your mouth with sweetness and your nose with the fragrance of peanuts.
Pig's foot tribute candies, on the other hand, are soft candies made from ground peanuts wrapped in an outer layer made from boiled glutinous rice. While the candy gets its name from its shape (similar to that of a split pig's foot), it is the taste and texture-chewy on the outside, crunchy on the inside-that make it a favorite. Back when real pig's feet were a rare treat, people used to satisfy their craving with the similarly textured pig's foot tribute candies.
Chen Chin-chin says that making good tribute candy is not easy. The peanuts must first be baked, then ground into the maltose. Mixing the peanuts completely into the maltose is a difficult task that requires a skilled person because there must be much more ground peanut than maltose. Chen says, "It will take some kind of technological breakthrough before anyone will be able to make good tribute candy in large volumes. Right now, the tribute candy that's produced in large volumes has too much maltose, which makes it hard but not crunchy. So even though some people are now making tribute candy in volume for distribution in Taiwan, if you want the real thing, you still have to come to Kinmen to get it."
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Machine-ground peanuts are more flavorful, but it takes human skill in the mixing stage to ensure that the peanut content of "tribute candy" is high enough. (photo by Hsueh Chi-kuang)
Machine-ground peanuts are more flavorful, but it takes human skill in the mixing stage to ensure that the peanut content of "tribute candy" is high enough.（photo by Hsueh Chi-kuang）
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