The texture is crisp, the taste bitter-sweet, the fragrance most appealing. Then he heats it, stirring with a small wooden utensil. When it boils, he adds some baking soda and then the sugar puffs up like bread, finally hardening into the shape of a rough pumice. The people most impressed by this are the old folks who remember days when this type of candy was quite common. They stand and stare, much as they did when they saw it for the first time, long ago.
Customers like to try their hand at making brittle candy.
The stall owner stands to one side, giving helpful advice to make sure that even novices succeed every time. Masks Masks of popular characters from cartoons and computer games are lined up for sale. When kids try on a mask, they enter a heroic world where anything is possible. Buyers are generally about seven or eight years old, although Kitty's fans are often high school girls. She tosses in small pieces of octopus, pickled ginger, deep-fried batter and cabbage.