I have to confess, I’m a big fan of mooncakes! For those of you who don’t know what’s a mooncake – Mooncake (濿饼; pinyin: yuè bĭng) is a traditional Chinese pastry eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival and it comes in all kinds of shapes, sizes and fillings. It’s nothing like the traditional pastry we are used to, although you will not notice the difference by just looking at it you’ll feel how heavy it is when you take it in your hand. Under the thin pastry crust is a dense and usually sweet filling (the common filling is lotus seed paste) and eating just one of these mooncakes is typically enough for an average person, but you can force some more if consuming them with tea. Oh, and don’t be surprised to find a salty egg yolk inside the cake! It is meant to symbolize the full moon, although I’m not sure why does it have to be salty? Well, if you live in China for some time and you get used to things like pineapple toppings for every type of pizza and sweet and sour sauces, then a salty egg yolk inside a sweet cake should be completely normal.
Mooncakes are probably the main thing during the Mid-Autumn day festival (中秿篿), or at least it is so in my understanding. The Mid-Autumn Festival occurs on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month of the Chinese calendar (which is mid or late September), and this year it falls on this Sunday, September 14th. (more…)