Suar and Syrup Coating
Chinese cooking has three methods of coating foods with sugar or syrups.
Spinning
In spinning a thread of syrup (basi),
the ingredients are deep-fried or
boiled before being dipped into sugar
that has been melted in either oil
or water and cooked until it thickens
and spins a thread.
Preserving in syrup (mizhi)
In preserving in syrup (mizhi), foods
are partially cooked and then boiled
in a sugar and honey sauce until the
syrup thickens.
Coating with frost (guashuang)
In coating with frost (guashuang),
foods are cooked by deep-frying while
sugar is melted with water or oil
in another pot to make a white syrup.
When the food is mixed with the syrup,
it looks as if it is covered with
a layer of frost.