It was a particularly hot day and the specialty candy, notoriously difficult to make, has a habit of melting in the hot sun.

Mr Au has spent more than 30 years perfecting the art he learned from a master in Hong Kong.

As a young apprentice chef, he used to take time out from Cantonese cooking to help the candy maker next door.

Even then the dragon beard candy was difficult to come by. Legend has it that it was invented by an emperor about 2000 years ago and subsequently eaten only by the ruling class.

It involves a block of chilled corn syrup being rolled in corn flour and stretched and folded until it separates into fine strands.

The usual number of strands is about 4000 but Mr Au has been known to stretch the sugar to almost 8000 strands a beard that would please any dragon.

The finished beard is cut into small pieces and wrapped around a mixture of crushed peanuts, sesame seed and desiccated coconut.

Mr Au, who is retired, makes the candy for festivals and taught the craft to his daughter Cindy, a financial analyst.

The Au family will be at Hurstville's Chinese New Year celebrations this Saturday.