Date Paste and Walnut Candy (棗泥核桃糕, aka 南棗核桃糕)

Here is a very traditional Chinese snack we've grown to love over the years.  Some of the ingredients might take some time to find.  But it is well worth the efforts!

1. Cut out about half from the 1 Kg bag of Date paste (棗泥, ~500g).  Note: Date paste can be found in any Armenian market.  See product package to the right here.  
   
2. Mince 1/2 cup of Dried Longan (桂圓肉, ~80g).  Let the minced Dried Longan soak in 3-4 Tbsp of Rum for 30 - 60 minutes.  Note: Dried Longan (桂圓肉) can be found in most Chinese markets.  
3. Prepare the Walnuts (核桃): Add 4 cups of raw walnuts (or a mix of walnuts and pecans) into a non-stick frying pan, turn on low-to-medium heat, stir constantly until golden, but not brown (for 12-15 minutes).  Or, roast 4 cups of walnuts in the oven at 300-deg-F till golden but not brown (16-20 minutes, stir and mix at halfway point).  Cut the full walnuts into halves and set aside.  
4. Prepare Cooked Glutinous Rice Flour (熟糯米粉, aka 鳳片粉, aka 加工糕粉): Get a bag of
   
   Glutinous Rice Flour (16oz; see the bag with green letters for product image, NOT the bag with red letters, i.e., Rice Flour), pour half a bag into a porcelain bowl, shake the bowl slightly to flatten the surface of the powder, poke 4-5 holes in the rice powder, and cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap.  Now place the bowl into a steamer and steam for 30 minutes (add ~15 minutes to allow full steam to build up in the steamer).  Note: The plastic wrap is used to prevent any water from getting into the rice powder.
5. Spoon out ~350g of malt sugar from the container into a non-stick frying pan. Malt Sugar (or Maltose) is available from most Chinese markets (see product package below for a 500-grams container).  Add 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil into the pan, and turn on low heat.  Note: It's essential to use low heat throughout this process, to prevent the sugar from burning.  Also, malt sugar is hard and sticky under room temperature, hence difficult to scoop out.  Place the container in a pot of hot water for 15-20 minutes (bring the water to hissing, but not boiling yet; place a small ceramic plate in the pot to shield the plastic container from the bottom of the pot).  We refrain from using Microwave to heat up the malt sugar (not sure if the plastic container is microwave-safe).  
   
6. Add 1/4 cup of corn syrup (~60g) into the the non-stick pan. Stir the mix slowly under low heat till boiling (i.e., when golden colored foam forms on the surface and swells up).  Note- Proceed to the next two steps immediately, once the mixture is gently boiling.  Dwelling on this step will result in overly-sticky-and-soft candies at the end.
7. Add the mix of dried Longan and Rum, prepared in Step 2, into the pan.  Note: We have reduced malt sugar from 500g to 350g, and corn syrup from 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup.
8. Now add the big chunk of 500g date paste (see Step 1) into the pan, chop up the chunk with a wooden spatula (as it softens under low heat), stir slowly, chop up more until the paste melts completely into the sugar.  Stir the mix under low heat until it boils (i.e., swelling up slowly in big bubbles as if it's a mud pile being pushed up by some force underneath). 
9. Add 1 & 1/3 cups of Cooked Glutinous Rice Powder (prepared in Step 4) into the mix.  Stir until the powder is fully absorbed and evenly mixed.  
10. Add 4 cups of halved walnuts (or the mix of walnuts and pecans) prepared in Step 3, and mix evenly.  Turn off heat.  
    
11. Place a large piece of parchment paper (i.e., paper coated with silicone) to cover a kneading board or a cutting board.  Pour the still-hot mix onto the parchment paper.  Add another piece of parchment paper on top of the hot mix  Use a rolling pin or another cutting board to flatten the surface down to ~1/2 thickness.  Cut off irregular parts and patch up to create a rectangle with well-formed edges.  Use one hand as guard to shape each of the four edges of the mix, while pressing down from the top along the edge.  Let the rectangle sit and cool (see picture to the right for the rectangle we made).  Note- Wax paper is NOT suitable here, since the wax coating on the paper might be melted under the residual heat. Also the wax paper is not really non-stick, whereas parchment paper is non-stick, and oven safe.
12. Cut the well-formed rectangle into your favorite size and serve.  To store the pieces, use parchment paper in between layers, as the pieces are sticky.  Might be worth the efforts to wrap the pieces in clear cellophane caramel wrappers (available from online sources, such as this site).  Here is a picture of some of the finished pieces wrapped in candy wrappers.