Mooncake

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  In Singapore, an average box of four mooncakes costs US$60, which is a lot of money for a pastry. A mooncake is a Chinese baked item, traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival, known in Chinese as 中秋節. It is a small round cake, and it carries a surprising amount of meaning. Why does a pastry take its name from the moon? What sits inside that thick crust, and why do the recipes change from one city to the next? How did a festival treat grow into a luxury gift, and then into a playground for chocolate, champagne and caviar? The answers begin with a night in the autumn calendar.

  172932

• 2. Night of the Moon

  ›

  The Liji, an ancient Chinese book recording customs and ceremonies, says the Chinese Emperor should offer sacrifices to the Sun in spring and to the Moon in autumn. The day it calls Mid-Autumn falls on the 15th day of the 8th Chinese month. That evening is also known as the Night of the Moon.

  The festival is closely linked to the legends of Chang'e, the Moon Goddess of Immortality. At heart, though, it is a harvest celebration, and a legend connects it to moon watching. Many people count it among the four most important Chinese festivals.

  Mooncakes sit at the center of the occasion. They are offered between friends and at family gatherings, and they are regarded as a delicacy. The cakes are so closely tied to the night that it is now commonly called the Mooncake Festival. One folk tale about the fall of a dynasty gives that night a far more dangerous purpose.

  27101425

• 3. Messages in Mooncakes

  ›

  A folk tale says that mooncakes helped overthrow the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty and led to the founding of the Ming dynasty. The idea is said to have come from Zhu Yuanzhang and his advisor Liu Bowen. They spread a rumor that a deadly plague was on the way.

  The only protection, the rumor claimed, was to eat special mooncakes. These would instantly revive the eater and grant special powers. People rushed to share the cakes, and that was the plan. Each one carried a hidden message: on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, kill the rulers.

  The tale also describes a second way to hide a note. A message was printed on the surfaces of mooncakes, which came in packages of four, as a simple puzzle or mosaic. Each cake was cut into four parts, and the 16 pieces were fitted together to reveal the words. Then the pieces were eaten, and the message vanished.

  Whatever the truth of the tale, the real cake is easier to inspect, starting with the stamp on its top.

  16152

• 4. Anatomy and Fillings

  ›

  A traditional Cantonese mooncake, the most famous variety, is a round pastry about 10 cm across and 3-4 cm thick. Its crust is a thin 2-3 mm, roughly an eighth of an inch. Inside is a rich, thick filling, usually lotus seed paste. Red bean paste and mixed nuts are also typical.

  Most mooncakes wrap a sweet, dense filling in a tender pastry skin. Depending on custom, they may be steamed, baked or fried. Some hold one or several whole salted egg yolks in the center, standing in for the full moon.

  The top of a traditional cake is stamped with the Chinese characters for "longevity" or "harmony". The stamp also gives the name of the bakery and the filling. Around the characters, designs of the Moon, the goddess Chang'e, flowers, vines or a rabbit, the symbol of the Moon, may appear. People usually eat the cake in small wedges, with tea.

  Lotus seed paste, called 蓮蓉 or lían róng, is considered by some to be the original and most luxurious filling. White lotus paste commands an even higher price. Because lotus paste is so costly, white kidney bean paste is sometimes used as a filler.

  Sweet bean paste, or 豆沙, covers a family of fillings. Red bean paste, made from azuki beans, is the most common worldwide. Some regions prefer mung beans or black beans instead.

  Jujube paste, or 棗泥, comes from the ripe fruit of the jujube plant, also called the date. It is dark red, a little fruity and smoky, and slightly sour. Depending on its quality, it can be mistaken for red bean paste, which is sometimes used as a filler.

  The five kernels filling, or 五仁, is a coarse mix of five types of nuts and seeds bound with maltose syrup. Recipes differ by region. Walnuts, pumpkin seeds, watermelon seeds, peanuts, sesame seeds and almonds are all common. Candied winter melon, jinhua ham or rock sugar may add more flavor.

  45192021

• 5. Chewy, Flaky, Tender, Crumbly

  ›

  Reddish-brown with a glossy sheen, the chewy crust is the one most Cantonese-style mooncakes wear. It is also the type most often seen in North America and many Western countries. Bakers make it from thick sugar syrup, lye water, flour and oil. Adding maltose syrup makes it chewier still.

  The same chewy dough is baked into fish or piglet shapes, called 猪仔饼 or piglet biscuits. Bakeries sell them as snacks, often in small plastic baskets. The basket is meant to suggest fish being caught or piglets being bound for sale.

  Flaky crusts are most typical of Suzhou-style and Taiwan-style mooncakes. Bakers roll together alternating layers of oily dough and flour that has been stir-fried in oil. The result feels much like puff pastry.

  Tender crusts are made from an even mix of sugar, oil, flour and water. They resemble the shortcrust pastry used in Western pie crusts and tart shells. The same dough is common in other Chinese pastries, such as the egg tart.

  In Yunnan, cooks pour hot water over a blend of flours with oil and salt. This gives a dense, crumbly pastry that is quite uncommon elsewhere.

  Most regions pair many fillings with only one type of crust. Vegetarian cakes may use vegetable oil, but many recipes rely on lard. That choice shapes some of the most distinctive regional styles.

  42120518

• 6. Regional Styles

  ›

  The Suzhou-style mooncake began more than a thousand years ago. It is known for layers of flaky dough and a generous helping of sugar and lard. More than a dozen variations exist, and the cakes are smaller than most other regional types. Some are sweet, while savory ones are served hot, usually filled with pork mince. Salt and pepper fillings, called 椒鹽, are common.

  Beijing has two versions. One, called di qiang, borrows from Suzhou and has a light, foamy dough. The other, called fan mao, has a flaky white dough. Mountain hawthorn and wisteria blossom are the two most popular fillings.

  The Cantonese style comes from Guangdong and Guangxi provinces and is the most famous regional type. Its fillings range from melon seed paste and nuts to ham, chicken, duck, roast pork and mushrooms. The most elaborate versions hold four egg yolks, one for each phase of the moon.

  Shanghai mooncakes use a rich, crumbly, buttery shortcrust that is unlike pie dough. Popular fillings include sweetened red bean, lotus seed and taro paste, with yolks set in the middle. Hong Kong has its own local inventions, even though people there typically eat Cantonese-style cakes.

  The Teochew version is another flaky type. It is larger than the Suzhou kind and close to Cantonese size, but thinner. Cooks stress the aroma of lard after roasting. In the Chaoshan region in the east of Guangdong, the Teochews' homeland, these old-school cakes are called 朥饼, or la bia. La means lard, or pork oil, which is mixed with the flour. Teochews also eat a deep-fried lotus cake, 莲花酥月饼, with a yam filling.

  Ningbo-style cakes, from Zhejiang province, also take inspiration from Suzhou. They have a compact covering and a filling of seaweed or ham, with a spicy, salty flavor. Yunnan cakes blend rice, wheat and buckwheat flours and fill them with Xuanwei ham and sugar. Meizhou, Southern Min and Wenzhou styles round out the list.

  Those are the traditions. Producers have been busy with something newer.

  421172033

• 7. Snow Skin and Beyond

  ›

  Snowy mooncakes first reached the market in the early 1980s. These chilled cakes are not baked. They are white on the outside, must be stored in a refrigerator, and are popular with teenagers. One kind has a glutinous rice crust with a texture like mochi. The other uses a jelly crust of agar, gelatin or konjac, flavored with fruit.

  Earlier experiments focused on fillings. Taro paste, 芋泥, pineapple and durian were among the first unusual ingredients, especially among overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia. They began as novelties and are now commonplace. Miniature cakes appeared so a person could eat one without cutting a large cake. Fat-free versions use yogurt, jelly or fat-free ice-cream, and each cake is often sealed in airtight plastic with a tiny food preserver packet.

  Almost anything that can be made into a paste has since gone inside. Coffee, chocolate, prunes, lychees, sweet potatoes and ham are all in use. Ginseng and bird's nest came first, followed by abalone and shark fin. Foreign companies joined in. Häagen-Dazs was among the first to make an ice-cream mooncake, with crusts of chocolate, snow skin or the "traditional" kind. Champagne ganache, malt whisky, volcanic-salt caramel, black truffles, caviar and foie gras have all appeared.

  Critics are not all impressed. Expensive ingredients have pushed up prices, and some worry about a "mooncake bubble" in China. Food critics point out that a "chocolate mooncake" is sometimes only chocolate shaped like a mooncake. Others complain that chains chase exotic flavors without asking whether the tastes work together.

  The fierce competition has a cost beyond the plate. Retailers over-design packaging to create buzz, and much of it is plastic. China's annual packaging waste is rising by an estimated 10%, while only around 10% of recyclable resources are recovered.

  2627293124

• 8. Mooncakes Abroad

  ›

  In Mongolia, the mooncake is called yeven. The crust is hearty, made from wheat flour and barley, and raisin is a popular filling. In Japan, mooncakes follow the Cantonese design and are sold all year round, mainly in Chinatowns. Azuki paste is the favorite filling, though other beans and chestnut also appear.

  Taiwan's most traditional cakes resemble those of southern Fujian. They are spherical with a flaky crust. Mung bean or taro paste is common, usually with a salted duck egg yolk. A red stamp bearing a celebratory character replaces the Cantonese imprint. Modern Taiwanese flavors include green tea, strawberry and tiramisu.

  Indonesia is a Muslim-majority country, so mooncakes are mostly made with halal ingredients. The crust is typically vegetable or peanut oil, and the filling is mung bean paste. One very traditional type is round, white and thinner than usual, and it is sold all year. In Malaysia, the cities of George Town, Kuala Lumpur and Sabah are known for their variety. Many bakers there use 100% pure Hunan lotus seed.

  Singapore treats mooncakes as luxury gifts for clients, friends and family. Hotels and fine Chinese restaurants pack them in elaborate boxes with compartments and jeweled clasps. Many people reuse the boxes as jewelry boxes after the festival. Traditional cakes hold red lotus, white lotus or red bean paste with between none and four salted duck egg yolks. Snowskin versions come in flavors such as Lychee Martini and Baileys. In Bangkok, Thai-Chinese bakeries sell mooncakes beyond the Chinatown of Yaowarat Road, including in large supermarkets.

  In Vietnam, the cake is called bánh trung thu, literally "mid-autumn cake". It comes in two forms. Bánh nướng is baked, while bánh dẻo is made with sticky rice. Many are circles about 10 cm across or squares 7-8 cm on a side, with designs that include a sow with cub, fish and shrimp. Because Vietnamese mooncakes lean sweet, cooks add a salted egg yolk to balance them. Bánh dẻo is easier to make, since its crust and filling are pre-cooked, yet bánh nướng is more popular.

  834363233