I Love TDN Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 When I was having trouble remembering something, something random just came to my mind. I just remembered that the Chinese people would be celebrating a holiday by eating a traditional moon cake. There had been myths of how a lady had loved a person but she was expelled and flew to the moon. And that is why Chinese people would eat the moon cakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emily Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 I love Asian culture. There's always so much mythology surrounding it. Is there a special recipe, or is the cake just shaped like a moon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luciana Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 These are mooncakes, stream. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mooncake I've never tried them before but they look really tasty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Love TDN Posted September 13, 2011 Author Share Posted September 13, 2011 I love Asian culture. There's always so much mythology surrounding it. Is there a special recipe, or is the cake just shaped like a moon? Well, the cake can be brownish and usually has like a Chinese word or something. The flavor varies since there are lots of flavors. There's one where it has winter melon flavor and at the center is the egg yolk. It tastes okay since its kind of dry, depending on how it was made. I'll try to find the recipe. The recipe can be complicated. Here's one recipe I found: http://chinesefood.about.com/od/foodfestivals/r/mooncakes.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweetdang Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 Well I'm Singaporean so. :) I celebrated it yesterday! *First hand info* *nods* Yes, a mooncake looks like that but slightly more appetizing. It is DELICIOUS, especially when you have whole salted egg yolks inside. :) The traditional ones are basically the mooncake skin, which is flour, and the inside is lotus paste. It gives great rewards well you sell it, I tell you. A mooncake about slightly smaller than the size of your palm would typically cost about 9 to 10 SING dollars... which is pretty expensive considering that it's just lotus paste. :P But that's because it's incredibly difficult to make. Although just lotus paste, it's actually a tedious job where you have to mix, stir, cook, etc. It takes about a few hours to make a small pot of it... You have to grind the almonds, make it into a paste by adding oil, water, etc, then cooking it until it becomes sticky, dry, and at the same time the correct softness and texture... it is difficult. (The recipe you gave a surprisingly easy...!) That's the traditional ones. But now we have those with snow skins, we have those with macadamias, different nuts, although it maintains the lotus paste. :) There are many versions, some that I have tried, some I haven't, but my favourites are the traditional and the green tea snowskin ones. Keep the snowskin ones in the fridge...! And correct, it does come from the story of those two people... There's only a full moon on the first and fifteenth of each month, so yesterday, mooncake festival, was the fifteenth. (ba yue shi wu) What happened, if my memory of stories when I was a kid doesn't fail me, was something between a couple - the girl was Chang'e, and the man, Houyi. Chang'e, who was immortal, did something(forgot what :P ) and was banished to Earth. Houyi was an ordinary man, but excellent archer, who decided to help the people of Earth and shoot down nine suns so the people of Earth could live peacefully. (Legend goes we had ten suns!) The king wasnt happy because each sun was, well, his son! But people were so grateful to him, they give him gifts and stuff, and his name spread. Chang'e and Houyi met, fell in love, got married. However, Houyi started getting greedy and lusted after power and immortality. He got a magic pill (sometimes Elixir) that would grant his immortality. He kept it locked up at home and warned Chang'e no to touch it. But, she did, and when he came home, she was so worried he would find out she was meddling, she swallowed the whole pill! And started to be immortal and rise etcetcetc without stopping till she came to the moon. He couldn't do anything because he didn't want to hurt her and shoot her down. She became the moon goddess. And the happy couple split, and can't meet. However, every mooncake festival, when the moon is at it's fullest, legend says the couple meet once more, once a year, separated by the stream (Milky Way) where they used to meet... That's the version I know, anyway. There are many different versions! Also, on mooncake festival, we play lanterns! I dislike the electronical ones, my whole family (from kids till now) have always carried the pretty paper ones, with a lighted candle inside. The paper won't catch fire, the candle is stuck to the middle of the paper. :P It's really beautiful at night, with a full moon, and you and your family taking a walk in the park, with pretty little lanterns. You'll hear the laughing children, and the sounds of celebration, from screaming to cheering to whistling sparklers. Proud to be Asian. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowwhite Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 What an incredible story. I love how asian culture still celebrates the ancient myths and makes them fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweetdang Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 What an incredible story. I love how asian culture still celebrates the ancient myths and makes them fun. Pretty much. The chinese legends and tales, like all other cultural tales, are pretty interesting. Plus, the culture of the chinese are in those, too, so. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parry Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Yes, it was the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節) yesterday. Sweetdang's pretty much summed it all up. I had the snowskin mooncakes for the first time this year, and as tasty as they are to eat, they take ages to defrost >,> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweetdang Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Ah yes. But they're nice cold! According to the net (I just searched it up) there's an amazing amount of different kinds! With jelly skin, even! Though that'll be weird... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parry Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Ah yes. But they're nice cold! According to the net (I just searched it up) there's an amazing amount of different kinds! With jelly skin, even! Though that'll be weird... Agreed The one I had was a tin set of 8, and inside were Mango Crunch, Strawberry Crunch, Apple Crunch, Chocolate Crunch, Mango with Pomelo Dessert, another Mango one that I've suddenly forgotten, Hong Mung (I think that's how it's spelt) bean paste, and another one that I've completely forgotten. I know there's a tiramisu flavour as well, and it's actually quite delicious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweetdang Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Wow, that's a lot! :P I didn't have much mooncake this festival. And not even my favourite egg one - my mum says it's full of bacteria and doesn't allow people to buy it for us T.T I had Mooncake from Rendezvous Hotel, but it was dryish and not that good... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parry Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Awww :( I live in England, so our family has to buy whatever's available. My mum prefers one brand of mooncake, but in recent years we've been buying Mei Xin (美心) (does that ring a bell with you?) because the said brand hasn't been stocking in the Chinese supermarkets over here for some reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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