Thursday, September 19, 2013

Glowing Lanterns, Tasty Mooncakes, and the Mid-Autumn Festival

This post is dedicated to my mama. Thursday, September 19 marks this year's Mid-Autumn Festival celebrated with glowing lanterns and tasty mooncakes.

A variety of Mooncakes - Coconut, Starbucks Coffee and traditional Lotus Paste


Growing up, the Chinese custom of eating mooncakes is one of my cherished memories. At the time, Houston's Chinese population had yet to explode, and I felt like part of a secret society since, as far as I could tell, we were the only family who did this. My mother was born and raised in the Philippines. Despite never having set foot in China, this tradition is something that had been passed down from my grandparents through her, to me. I'm not sure where she procured them. Perhaps the Mooncake Supplier hung out with the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and blessed my mom with these pastries as a reward for being a good Chinese mama all year. She'd get really excited whenever someone would visit from Asia, Canada or California and brought her a box. I suppose these were a little fresher than whatever she could buy in Houston. We would just have one or two for our family of four, and she'd slice these palm-sized pastries into little wedges for us to share.

According to my mom, mooncakes are part of the Feast of the August Moon, occasionally called the Feast of the Harvest Moon. I would usually point out that it was September, sometimes early October, but never, ever August. My child brain may have chalked this up to a major time zone difference. California is two hours behind Texas, and Asia is a whole month behind. Later, I understood that it fell on the full moon of the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, not the Gregorian one I was taught in school. Even back then, I learned that just because something is different doesn't mean that it's wrong, a notion that would come up quite often in my adult, expat life.

Shortly after I arrived in Malaysia, I was amazed to discover that this "secret" tradition is wide-spread here. Pining for home a little bit, it was a shred of something familiar from my childhood.  In Malaysia and Singapore, it seems that everyone refers to it as the Mid-Autumn Festival or, less frequently, the Lantern Festival (not to be confused with China's version of the Lantern Festival which occurs during the first month of the lunar year).

Last weekend's trip to Singapore's Gardens by the Bay coincided nicely with the Mid-Autumn lantern celebrations they were holding. I have not seen anything on this grand scale anywhere in Penang.

A life-size house lantern floating on the lake

Lots of people came to Singapore's Gardens by the Bay to look at these large lanterns.


Something for the kids to enjoy

One of the winners of the lantern making contest


Mooncakes are all over the place in Penang. There's big displays at the mall, local bakeries and restaurants make them, and they're readily available at the grocery store. It was no longer a rare commodity. My Zumba instructor handed them out after Tuesday's class, and a friend had a box to share at the school playground. She said that it's traditional to exchange them with each other or bring them as a hostess gift when invited to someone's house.

I was raised on the traditional Lotus Paste with a Single Salted Egg Yolk mooncake. I brought one into my workplace in Texas once since it was staffed with adventurous foodies, and one friend described it as having a taste reminiscent of marzipan.  My hubby and kids don't really like them because, being a Chinese dessert, they only have a hint of sweetness, not the tooth-achey sugar rush you get from American pastries. Unfortunately, they are very high in calories.


Traditional Lotus Paste and pumpkin seed filling
No salted yolk because I always pick it out.


Oh my goodness, the varieties you can get over here! Malaysia offers an endless list of flavors from Pandan to Green Tea to Cookies and Cream. Even Durian filling is available. My favorite non-traditional flavor this year is Coconut which reminds me of Filipino Bibingka but with shreds of coconut throughout and no cheese.

Mooncakes are made by wrapping the filling around a cooked, salted egg yolk representing the moon and then wrapped with the outer pastry layer. Each assembled piece is pressed into a wooden mold to create the decorative impressions and then removed before baking. The round cakes are a symbol of family unity and good health. Somehow, the Skype session between my mom and I a few weeks ago ended with us each brandishing our own mooncake molds at the web camera. I'm not quite sure how that supports family unity.


Mooncake mold

Same shapes are specifically designed to appeal to kids. Sponge Bob or Mickey Mouse, anyone?

Chocolate Mickey Mouse mooncake


Whereas Starbucks aims to deliver the same espresso drinks no matter what store you are at in the world, they do offer special items that cater to the local palate. If you ever come across an Asian Dolce Latte, try it. It's like Vietnamese coffee and so very yum. In Malaysia and Singapore, they also sell mooncakes. In fact, the Caramel Macchiato and Tiramisu fillings they offered two years ago are probably my favorite of all the nouveau flavors I've sampled since moving here. Alas, their mooncake menu has changed, and these primo fillings have not reappeared.

Notice the Starbucks logo on top of their Tiramisu mooncake.


I was also introduced to Snow Skin mooncakes. Unlike traditional ones which are baked with a pastry outer crust and served at room temperature, snow skin mooncakes are not baked and have an outer layer of glutinous rice, similar to that in Japanese mochi ice cream. These have to be kept refrigerated, are served chilled, and are perceived as a healthier alternative to traditional mooncakes.

Strawberry Snowskin mooncake


Other international chains have joined in the mooncake frenzy and offer their own interpretations of this treat. Haagen-Dazs offers one with a praline base, ice cream filling surrounding a mango sorbet "yolk" and covered with a  hard chocolate shell.


Ice cream mooncake


Godiva Chocolatier sells one that's essentially a large chocolate candy. I know that you readers are desperate to know what one tastes like, so I bought one for the sake of the blog. The Duo Lait version has a top layer of milk chocolate ganache with hints of mandarin and red cherry and a punch of cinnamon and sea salt sitting on a bottom layer of California almond praline. It also costs about US$2.50 a bite. Pricey!

Godiva mooncake


By this time next year, I'll probably be back in Texas, so I'm enjoying all the mooncake madness while I can. Have you ever tried mooncakes?


This post is part of Travel Photo Thursday on Budget Travelers Sandbox and "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" on The Tablescaper. Check them out for more around-the-world travel inspiration.

32 comments:

  1. So cool, Michele. I was reading about mooncakes yesterday.
    I've never tried mooncakes but I bet they're really tasty.

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    1. If you're every in a city with a large Chinese population in early September, you should seek them out.

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  2. This is so cool! I have often heard of moon cakes but didn't realize there was so much behind it. Love the molds. So neat.

    - The Tablescaper

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  3. wow these mooncakes are getting very fancy and lots of great combinations, looks like a wonderful event to check out in Singapore, maybe one of these times i'll get to visit the new gardens.

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    1. Gardens by the Bay is such an interesting place. To me it's just like Singapore to deliver an experience with nature that's been highly engineered.

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  4. Never had mooncakes, but I'm sold! I'd like to start observing the Feast of the August Moon and indulging in them. They look awesome. I love the story of the traditions and hearing about your mama. Very nice.

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    1. It's been a nice change to be in a place where many people celebrate this festival. I wish my mama could be here to share it with me.

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  5. The origin of moon cakes is an interesting story... of how messages were conveyed during war time. I did a post on it in my blog some time back.
    You have tempting shots, showing all stuffing. :)

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    1. I'll have to go back to your blog and look up the origins. Something about being able to pass messages because only the locals ate the mooncakes?

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  6. I think I have tried a moon cake (I think it was in Vietnam???) but wasn't very keen on it. Having a Western palate, the Haagen-Dazs and the one after attract me most.

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    1. I think this celebration is big in Vietname, too. Yes, mooncakes aren't for everyone. Even my kids are turned off by the mango sorbet in the middle of the Haagen-Dazs, but they're willing to eat the rest of the ice cream and chocolate.

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  7. I have never actually eaten a moon cake and had no idea that they came in different varieties and shapes! One of my daughter's teachers brought some in to share with the class in grade 9 and she hated them - she tells the story of how they were trying to make it appear that they were eating it while wrapping it up in a napkin to dispose of. Now that you tell me they aren't sweet - I understand why! ;)

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    1. That story made me laugh. I can just picture those kids surreptitiously spitting it out.

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  8. Wow, those are some desserts Michele! Great photos too. This post meant a lot to me because I caught right off the bat how it dedicated to your mom :)

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    1. If it wasn't for my mom, I would know nothing about mooncakes.

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  9. I heard about the Mooncake festival in Macau...they're all over the East I guess!

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    1. I think it's everywhere with a sizeable Chinese population -- China, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

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  10. I've had a 'thing' about the August moon ever since high school when our drama department did the play, "Teahouse of the August Moon" to this day, I can't look at it in August without thinking "the oldest and wisest moon". And I loved your Moon Cake review - the one from Godiva looks suspiciously like a variation of Canada's Nanaimo bar that I am writing about next week!

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    1. Ooh, I really enjoyed the Nanaimo bars I had on Victoria Island. Can't wait to read your post.

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  11. I've never had a moon cake but my mouth is just watering for all those lovely photos. The festival is so colorful and almost seems unreal to one who has never seen one in person.

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    1. We were really fortunate to stumble upon the lantern festival. The only reason we were walking this way was because the line at the taxi stand was too long, so we were headed to the subway and came across all these beautiful lanterns.

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  12. Oh My looks so delicious. I would love to be in Malaysia for one of the festivals. I've seen such things here in the US in chinatown but I'm sure it would be different in Malaysia where the chinese population is larger.

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  13. Yes the moon cakes do look delicious and I enjoyed the colorful festival photos. Thanks for visiting me. I learned some new things here.

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  14. When I lived in Brooklyn, New York there was a large Asian population and Mooncakes were readily available there. Here in Colorado I haven't seen any. You have my mouth watering for one right now--all the ones you showed looked delicious, especially the ones from Starbucks!

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  15. I've had a mooncake once and I don't even remember what flavor it was. The Mid-Autumn lantern celebrations in Singapore are beautiful. That colorful temple you captured is just gorgeous. All those flavors sound great and how neat that even the major chains have their own versions. Love bibingka and I'd love to have one of those Haagen-Dazs or Godiva ones. Maybe I need to head to Chinatown next week to see if they have any leftovers :)

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  16. How interesting. I'd love to experience this festival and try a few assorted mooncakes. And although I adore Godiva chocolates, I'm more intrigued by the traditional mooncake.

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  17. The godiva moon cake looks awesome! I am sure it costs a bomb :O

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  18. Now that's something new - Mickey Mouse moon cake!

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