Happy Mid-Autumn Festival/ The Moon Festival

The Origin of Mid-Autumn Festival

The Moon Festival (also called Mid-Autumn festival or Zhong Qiu Jie? in Chinese) falls on September 28th in 2004. Chinese people believe that on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar——the Mid-autumn Festival, the moon is the biggest, roundest and brightest. And the term round implies family reunion in Chinese. So the Moon Festival is a holiday for members of a family to get together wherever it is possible. Sons and daughters will bring their family members back to their parents' house, typically having dinner together, for a reunion. Chinese culture is deeply imbedded in traditional festivals. Just like Christmas and Thanksgiving in the West, the Moon Festival is one of the most important traditional events for the Chinese.

The Moon Festival is full of legendary stories. Legend says that Chang Er flew to the moon, where she has lived ever since. You might see her dancing on the moon during the Moon Festival. When the full moon rises, families get together to watch the full moon, eat moon cakes, and sing moon poems. With the full moon, the legend, the family and the poems, you can't help thinking that this is really a perfect world. That is why the Chinese are so fond of the Moon Festival. The legend surrounding the "lady living in the moon" dates back to ancient times, to a day when ten suns appeared at once in the sky. The Emperor ordered a famous archer to shoot down the nine extra suns. Once the task was accomplished, Goddess of Western Heaven rewarded the archer with a pill that would make him immortal. However, his wife found the pill, took it, and was banished to the moon as a result. Legend says that her beauty is greatest on the day of the Moon festival.

The Moon Festival is also a romantic one. A perfect night for the festival is if it is a quiet night without a cloud in the sky and with a little mild breeze from the sea. Lovers spend such a romantic night together tasting the delicious moon cake with some wine while watching the full moon. Even for a couple who can't be together, they can still enjoy the night by watching the moon at the same time so it seems that they are together at that hour. A great number of poetry has been devoted to this romantic festival. Hope the Moon Festival will bring you happiness.

Make your own moon cakes

The moon is said to be at its fullest on the 15th day of the Chinese eighth lunar month which falls on Sept 28 this year. So the moon cake craze will begin about this time again.

Moon cakes these days don蒸 come cheap anymore and I reckon housewives are keen to bake their own for their families as well as to give as gifts to relatives and close friends. Here are some recipes to get you started.

Lotus Paste Filling

Ingredients:

500g lotus seeds, 1.5 tbsp lye water, 340ml peanut oil, 450g sugar, 1 tbsp maltose, 1 tbsp kao fun (cooked glutinous rice flour)

Method:

1. Add lye water into lotus seeds, mix well and leave aside for 20 minutes. Pour in boiling water and cover up for 20-30 minutes. Strain and wash the lotus seeds to remove the skin.

2. Boil lotus seeds till soft. Put them into a blender with some water and blend into a thick paste.

Heat wok with a quarter portion of oil and a quarter portion of sugar. When sugar turns light brown, put in blended lotus paste and the remaining sugar. Stir constantly until paste is smooth and thick in consistency. Add in the rest of the oil gradually. Keep stirring the paste until thick. Lastly, stir in maltose and stir well to blend.

3. Sieve in 1 tbsp kao fun for a thicker and firmer consistency in the paste. Leave overnight before use.

Making of Moon cakes

Method:

1. Divide your dough into even pieces of 40g each. Roll the dough into a ball and flatten out with your hand.

2. Weigh the lotus seed paste. If you like the yolk of salted eggs, you can insert one in the centre.

Place the filling in the middle of the flat dough and slowly wrap around it. Seal the edges and roll dough lightly between your palms until the filling is hidden.

3. Dust mould lightly with flour. Press dough ball into the moon cake mould. Knock the mould against the table to dislodge the moon cake.

4. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C for 10 minutes. Remove and leave to cool for 5 minutes. Brush on beaten egg glaze. Return to bake for another 10 minutes or till golden.

Note: Do not overbake moon cake otherwise filling will overflow and moon cake will lose its shape.

Moon cake Varieties:

There is a long-term development of Chinese moon cakes with patterns changing and increasing constantly. The regional difference, make moon cakes have various shape, taste with their specialities. For producing area, there are the styles of Beijing, Guangzhou, Suzhou, Taiwan, Yunnan, Hongkong, Japanese, etc. For taste, there are sweet, salty,

sweetened salty and sour moon cakes. For filling, there are Five Kernels, Sweetened bean paste, Crystal sugar, Sesame and ham moon cakes. For shape, there are glazing and decorative border moon cakes.

How to keep moon cake?

Moon cakes are rich in oil and sugar, easily affected by damp and heat. So you should put them in the shade. Do not mix them with others when deposited for their taste and speciality. Please pay attention to producing date when you buy boxes of moon cakes or moon cake in bulk.

New taste!

The Moon festival falls on September 28th in 2004. It is on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. There are kinds of moon cakes with various filling. Here are some new ones.

Cheese moon cakes: good taste , RMB4 per piece in Holiland

Juicy peach moon cakes: sweet and sour, tasty and refreshing, RMB4 per piece in Holiland

Pumpkin lotus paste moon cakes: light sweet, RMB4 per piece in Holiland

Shrimp paste moon cakes: shrimp flavor, not sweet, RMB4 per piece in Holiland