Malaysians make tiger-themed treats for a roaring Chinese New Year

Asmiza's custom-made tiger-themed sugar cookies add more colour to the upcoming Chinese New Year festivities. Photo: TikTok/misabloom

With barely two weeks to go before Chinese New Year, many Malaysian bakers are adding to the festive cheer by making tiger-themed treats to welcome the Year of the Tiger.

And they are more than happy to share their mouth-watering creations on social media.

The words “tiger cookies” currently has over 1.7 billion views on Google, and the hashtag #tigercookies garners hundreds, if not thousands, of photos and videos on Instagram.

Facebook user Teoh Hooi Poh has been posting photos of her hand-painted tiger-themed pineapple tarts on her account. (@MadamPoh).

Poh takes one minute to individually paint the additional embellishments like ears, eyes and whiskers to each feline-faced tart. Photo: Dave Lim

The pineapple filling is encased in a shortcrust pastry made from flour, egg, butter and sugar. Shaped in a ball, her tarts are coated with egg wash, baked and decorated with edible melted milk chocolate.

“I’ve made over 500 containers of tiger-themed pineapple tarts since December. Thankfully, my sisters and children have been helping me to fulfil the orders,” said Teoh, 63, in a phone interview from Petaling Jaya.

Teoh, who runs a home-based baking business, has been creating Chinese zodiac-themed pineapple tarts since 2017.

“I have created many characters like pig, dog and rat. I received many orders for themed tarts because they add more colour to Chinese New Year celebrations,” said the mother of four.

According to Teoh, it takes one minute to individually paint the additional embellishments like ears, eyes and whiskers to each feline-faced tart.

“Even though the designs look simple, a steady hand is needed to ensure each whisker is painted to perfection,” said Teoh, who learned to make the morsels of delight from a recipe book.

Khor's tiger-themed sourdough loaf is dusted with red velvet powder. Photo: Facebook/Fenice Khor

Teoh isn’t the only one who’s posting photos of her tiger-themed creations.

On Facebook group Sourdough Support Group Malaysia, baker Fenice Khor uploaded photos of her sourdough bread, dusted with edible powder to resemble a tiger.

“CNY mode is on, so I have sprinkled red velvet powder instead of dark cacao powder to create the 'dong dong chiang’ feel,” Khor posted on the group and her account, @Fenice Khor.

On YouTube, Malaysian baker Chay Mei Ling has also posted three videos on making sourdough tiger-striped buns and bread on her channel, MeiLing’s Kitchen.

Chay has posted three YouTube videos on making sourdough tiger-striped buns and bread. Screengrab: YouTube/MeiLing's Kitchen

On TikTok, check out cookie crafter Asmiza Zul’s custom-made tiger-themed sugar cookies. “Sape lahir tahun tiger (Who’s born in the Year of the Tiger) Aumm,” she posted on her TikTok handle, @misabloom.

Online shopping platforms like Shopee and Lazada are also offering various tiger-themed cookie cutters and gift wrappers in conjunction with the Lunar New Year.