Mooncakes: Mid-Autumn Festival
Also known as the Mid-Autumn festival or Zhong Qiu Jie, the Mooncake festival has been around for ages in Asian Culture. Every year it falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, Thus gaining its name because the 15th day is the middle of a month, and the eighth lunar month is in the middle of autumn. This year, the festival lies on the 10th of September. The festival that started around 2000 years ago was presumably created to celebrate the gods; however, there are many other folktales including the story of Hou Yi and Chang'E, the rabbit on the moon, or overthrowing the Mongols.
To celebrate the festival, different families hold different events to honor the traditions of their culture. During the festival, families often come together to honor the heaven and moon gods. In traditional Chinese literature, the moon represents completeness and family reunion. Therefore, many activities during this festival are related to the moon; this includes taking moonlit walks, releasing lanterns under the moonlight, etc. But the most common tradition is making and gifting mooncakes. So the real question is: mooncakes are a great way of introducing people to the mid-autumn festival, as there are many types of mooncakes, but which one is worth buying?
With my experience as a mooncake enthusiast, I have a few favorites which I believe would be an excellent introduction for anyone interested in this festival's most notable pastry.
Traditional Mooncakes
Many people opt for the traditional mooncake- generally filled with red beans, mung beans, and a salted egg yolk center. This is the most common mooncake during the festival, and it's definitely what everyone thinks of when they first hear about mooncakes. They're stamped with patterns and symbols which are mainly for aesthetic purposes, but also meanings such as "reunion."
Snow-skin mooncakes
If you're someone who doesn't like baked skin pastries, then you should opt for snow-skin mooncakes. Instead of a dough skin, they use glutinous rice flour for a mochi consistency. The fillings are generally the same as traditional mooncakes, but they tend to be sweeter. They are often served cold and prettier in color, where they get their name "snow-skin" from.
Flaky Pastry Mooncakes
This mooncake is a personal favorite. If you're a fan of the textures of french pastries and croissants, you would love this. Generally, these mooncakes come in solid flavors instead of combinations, which I believe gives the flakiness a good compliment. Also known as the Huaiyang Pastry, this type of mooncake is the hardest to find but the most loved. So if you ever see some in stores, don't hesitate to try it.