Ho Yuen ( Karis) Cheung

China: Mooncake

Do any of you know what a mooncake is? It is interesting that food can be related to different festivals, for example, turkey is served during Christmas. In East Asia, mooncake is served during the Mid-Autumn festival. Mooncake is a traditional food which is made of a lotus seed paste filled with egg yolk. It is usually served to celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival which is on August 15^th in the Chinese calendar. In the 14^th century, the Chinese citizens’ needs were not satisfied by the Mongolians’ rules; therefore they decided to start a revolution against the Mongolians. The leader of this rebellion was called Zhu, Zhu’s advisor Liu distributed mooncakes with hidden messages and outlined the rebellion which started on August 15^th in Chinese calendar. The Mongolians did not expect this incident, because Mongolians do not eat mooncake. The rebellion was successful. Since then, mooncakes are eaten to commemorate this important day. Chinese people celebrate this festival because the moon has its roundest shape on this day; the moon symbolizes family’s unity and perfection. Family members usually gather together on this day to share their happiness while eating mooncakes. Another special thing about mooncakes is that they have a golden-yellow cooked egg yolk in them, which resembles a bright moon. We exchange mooncakes with our family and friends on Mid-Autumn festival to show our love for them. Nowadays, some mooncakes are made with different ingredients, such as yogurt, jelly or fat-free ice cream, in order to adapt to the Westernized lifestyle. However, the traditional mooncakes were made with bean-paste filling and cooked egg yolk. Mooncakes are still very popular in China, because of their significant historical meaning to the Chinese people.

THE RECIPE

· Ingredients

Flaky Dough (60 mooncakes)

Filling (per one mooncake)

1. Mix flour, gelatin and vegetable oil in a bowl, mix the mixture into dough.

2. Boil the egg for 15 minutes until the egg yolk is well cooked.

3. Cut lotus seed paste into pieces and put a piece into cooked egg yolk.

4. Separate the dough into equal parts put the cooked egg yolk with lotus seed paste in the dough.

5. Put the dough (with the cooked egg yolk and lotus seed paste in it) in a container

6. Put the container with the mooncake into a preheated oven; leave in for 5 minutes at 250 degree Celsius.

7. Sprinkle some egg yolk on the mooncake, and then put the mooncake back into the oven, heat for 5 minutes at 190 degree Celsius.

Notes: All ingredients can be purchased at any Chinese grocery store, such as Kim Phat near Metro Jarry.

Cultural Food & Recipes