Preparation
Traditionally, Dragon's Beard Candy is made from sugar and maltose syrup, although recipes based on corn syrup are now used in the United States. The main ingredients of Dragon's Beard Candy include approximately 75 grams of fine white sugar, 75 grams of peanuts, 75 grams of desiccated coconut, 38 grams of white sesame seeds, 150 grams of corn syrup, and 1 bowl of glutinous rice flour. Due to the presence of large amounts of syrup, the candy is very high in fat and sugar.
For preparation of Dragon's Beard Candy, the preparer must initially boil and melt the saturated maltose solution (which may include sugar or corn syrup) for 5 minutes until thickened, followed by leaving the mixture to chill for 10 minutes until a solid state is reached. This resulting solid, which is somewhat flexible or elastic, is then formed into a torus. Next, the preparer must dip the gooey sugar, corn syrup or sugar cane based gel and dip it into the sugar dough. Thirdly, the gooey chunk must be shaped into a ring resembling a donut, the key feature being the large hole. This step must by followed by repeatedly pulling, twisting, stretching and folding the dough over on itself, doubling the number of strands created after each repetition. While the candy is being folded, it is recommended to keep the dough covered in toasted glutinous flour to prevent it from sticking to surfaces. The dough must then be stretched into paper thin strands, where each strand should be three to four inches long. Then, the strands should be tangled into a circular shape, and dipped into corn flour to keep the strands from sticking together. Finally, the ring should be cut into small pieces and wrapped around crushed peanuts, sesame seeds, crunched chocolate or coconut inside. Specific Dragon's Beard Candy filling depends on several factors, such as region, purpose, and respective chef.
The candy is recommended to be consumed immediately after its preparation is complete, but it should remain fresh for up to six minutes in hot and humid weather conditions.
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