Dragon Cookies

It is the Year of the Horse this year. Do you know the story of how the chinese zodiac signs come to be? Once upon a time, the Jade Emperor called all the animals in the animal kingdom for a feast. He told them that the first twelve animals who arrive at his place would also have the honour of a year named after them. But first, they have to cross a big river to the Jade Emperor's palace.

Both the cat and the rat are intelligent animals, but they were terrible swimmers. They met an ox at the bank of the river and persuaded him to take them on his back. The Ox being good natured, did so. Nearing the other side, the rat pushed the cat off into the river and it drowned. The rat then took off and reached first with the ox in second place. The tiger arrived soon after.

The rabbit arrived next, by nimbly hopping from log to log floating on the river. He explained that he nearly fell off at one point but the wind blew the log to the safety of the bank of the river.

Next came the flying dragon. Although it was strong and the only one who can fly, he was delayed because on the way to the palace he saw the Rabbit clinging on to a log and took time to blow the log to safety. 

Next came the horse with a snake clinging on to its hoof. The sudden appearance of the snake as it slithered away from its carrier to the finishing line spooked the horse and thus was cheated of the sixth spot. 

The goat, monkey and rooster came together. The rooster spotted a raft and together, the monkey and goat pulled and tugged to get the raft across. The goat got the eighth spot, the monkey and rooster the ninth and tenth respectively.

In the eleventh place was the dog, who could have gotten there a little earlier but was too playful and so had stopped midway playing. The last was the pig, who ate too much before going to the feast and fell asleep on the way.

There! Easy to remember? 

Even though this is not the year of the dragon, or snake, I made these dragon cookies for Chinese New Year. They are easy to make and melts in the mouth. Just be sure to leave the butter to room temperature so it whips up light and feathery otherwise the dough will be very hard to pipe.

Beware, these cookies are very crumbly!

120g corn flour

20g all purpose flour

10g milk powder

80g butter

50g icing sugar

1 egg yolk

Whip butter and icing sugar till smooth. Add egg yolk and whip. Mix in the rest of the ingredients and whip till well mixed. 

The dough should be pliant, but not runny. Place into piping bag and pipe in the shape of 'S'. 

Bake at 160c for 15 mins.