Andrea Nguyen
Author & Teacher
Send a messageMy Publications
Asian Tofu
Release date: Feb. 28, 2012
available for pre-order
Asian Market Shopper
mobile app is here!
"Never Be Lost in an Asian Grocery Again"
-- L. Andriani, Oprah.com
Asian Dumplings
Reviews & Press Release
Enhanced e-book with how-to videos now available!
Into the Vietnamese Kitchen
Reviews & Press Release
E-book released on 6/1/11!
Recent PostsTolerance Test: Are Gluten-Free Asian Ingredients for You?Refrigerator Gold: Leftover Corn Cakes and Chile SauceMoon Cakes: Love or Hate Them?New Crop of Asian Americans in FarmingFurikake Caramel Corn RecipeBarley and Asian Herb SaladAsian Tofu Update: Cover EvolutionAsian Tofu Update: First PagesSH** Hits the Phan: Viet Revenge on Round Eyes?Perfectly Peel Boiled Eggs (video tip)Awards + Praise
James Beard Foundation
Award Finalist
2007 Best Asian Cookbook
IACP Awards Finalist
2010 Best Single Subject Cookbook
2007 Best First Book
2007 Best Int'l Cookbook
National Public Radio
Best 10 Cookbooks of 2009
Cooking Light Magazine
Oct. 2009 "Editors' Dozen" Top Picks
2010 Editors' Favorite Cookbooks
CHOW.com
Winter 2009 Gift Guide
Popular DealsPopular Deals powered by Brad's Deals« New Crop of Asian Americans in Farming |Main| Refrigerator Gold: Leftover Corn Cakes and Chile Sauce »
September 11, 2011Moon Cakes: Love or Hate Them?
Sunday, September 11, 2011 has been a solemn occasion full of reflection on the past and future. During the past week, my husband and I watched several TV programs and read magazine and newspaper articles about the tragic events that happened a decade ago. Perhaps we overloaded ourselves with 9/11 but today, on the actual anniversary date of the attacks, I decided to switch gears to focus on tomorrow, Monday, September 12, 2011.
It’s going to be the Mid-Autumn Festival (Tet Trung Thu in Vietnamese, Zhong Qiu Jie in Mandarin). It’s also called the Moon Festival because the moon shines never fails to shine super big and bright. Referring to the festival legends behind the holiday, my mom once remarked, “It’s this time of the year that you can see the woman in the moon.” So tonight, I went into the backyard and looked up to see this moon:
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a harvest festival, a time for giving thanks for the plenty of the year that has past. We no longer lead agricultural lives but we can still pause to feel grateful for life’s bounty.
The festival is one of the most important holidays of its kind among those of Chinese, Taiwanese, and Vietnamese descent. People gather with friends and family to hang out and eat. I remember being in Hong Kong one year strolling along the Kowloon side of the harbor among throngs of people out to gaze at the moon. Kids carried colorful cellophane and wood lanterns to imitate the moon, reminding me of when I was a child in Vietnam.
Foodwise, at the center of the festival are moon cakes, called banh nuong/banh Trung Thu in Vietnamese and yue bing in Mandarin. The small cakes have a sweet or savory-sweet filling encased by a very thin sheath of dough.
I love them because I grew up on wonderful homemade moon cakes. I have learned to prepare them on my own but this year, I had a few in the freezer (pictured at the top; "w/o trung" means we ran out of egg yolks!). My mom made them last year and gave me a few. They seem to last indefinitely when kept frozen. Our family’s preferred moon cakes are filled with a finely diced mixture of sweetmeats, roast pork, nuts, sesame seed, and fresh lime leaf. At the center is a single salted egg yolk to evoke the moon. A touch of rose petal sorghum liquor (mei kwei lu chiu) in the filling makes things extra fragrant. Our homemade moon cakes are laborious to make so we savor tiny pieces with sips of fragrant tea or the rose petal liquor.
Here is one of my mom’s homemade moon cakes, unwrapped and thawing. I like to keep it in an airtight container so that it remains moist.
From this one cake that measures about 3 1/2 inches across and 1 1/4 inches tall, I can cut 8 to 12 wedges. My mom can cut hers into 16 but she’s a maniac. The point is that we really love our moon cakes and a little goes a long way.
But there are many people who hate moon cakes. I can certainly understand why as most commercially made moon cakes are lead-like and too sweet. Twelve months ago, when I was in China, my friends and I sampled moon cakes twice and all I can say is, this: A single small piece can stay with you for hours!
How can you avoid moon cakes? At the Walmart in Beijing and a wet market in Chengdu, food stylist Karen Shinto and I saw mountains of moon cakes on display for the holiday. Here is a sample from Beijing's Walmart:
My dad just emailed a Los Angeles Times dispatch from China, where yue bing has become a dreaded holiday gift, on par with the American fruitcake. (But I like fruitcake and make a Vietnamese fruitcake that’s flavored a bit like my favorite moon cake!) The Chinese sweet has been subject to a character assassination – people see it as a fattening, wasteful expensive gift, and bad tasting food.
Moon cakes have also become a tax issue as the Chinese tax bureau is forcing employees to pay income tax on cakes that they receive from their companies. How’s that for deterrence?
The LA Times article quotes one man who comments, “As the Western saying goes, nothing is certain but death and taxes. I feel very uncomfortable about the ‘mooncake [SIC] tax.’” So moon cakes are perceived as bad as taxes.
On the other hand, modern moon cakes, such as the Haagen-Dazs ice cream filled ones, sell like hot cakes! (Haagen-Dazs is owned by General Mills and their ice cream moon cakes represent a huge business opportunity. Trader Joe’s used to carry a similar product in their frozen section and it was okay, not great.) Starbucks has even gotten into the moon cake business in China.
What do you think of moon cakes? Love them or hate them? Is there a kind or filling that you enjoy? What is your source for them?
Related moon cake links:
How to make moon cakes (video that goes with my recipe from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen)Tips on buying and making moon cakesVietnamese fruitcake recipeMid-Autumn Festival history, legend, and tradition General Mills' golden opportunity: China's moon cake market (TwinCities.com/Pioneer Press)Posted in Asian Food Culture, Miscellaneous, Vietnamese Culture | PermalinkReblog (0) | | Digg This | | Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
I guess I'm not a big fan of them. I've only ever had the commercial ones, and while I quite like the taste, I dislike that "leaden" quality you mention. Every year I try them again hoping my perception was wrong, or has shifted, or something, but I have yet to care for them.
Posted by:Diane |September 11, 2011 at 08:19 PMI actually like moon cakes..maybe because I grew up eating them as a child. By the way, your mom rocks! I had no idea you can make moon cakes! Very impressive!!
Commercial baked mooncakes are really bad - fillings too sweet, and the skins dry and brittle. The newish fad of snowskin mooncakes in all variety of weird flavors also does not thrill me (although the durian snowskin mooncake from Takashimaya in Singapore was exceptional!).
I much prefer our own homemade mooncakes to anything made commercially. Here's our Traditional Baked Mooncake recipe:
http://www.houseofannie.com/traditional-baked-mooncake-recipe/
I married into moon cakes when I married my husband, and it is a match made in heaven. My husband is ok too (wink). I live in Berkeley not too far from Oakland Chinatown, and so have had reasonably fresh ones. But I also like really dense sweet things. My favorites are lotus seed pate with egg yokes, or date with egg yokes.
Posted by:Ellen Rigsby |September 11, 2011 at 08:45 PMI have grown to like moon cakes a lot - probably coincided when I grew into liking salted egg yolks! No I love them and always buy the double yolk variety. I watched your video about making moon cakes at home... you are a BEAST Andrea! You were a cool cucumber when you unmolded that sucker. I don't know if I would have the nerve to take on such an endeavor on my own. I miss the days when all of my mom's friends would gather at our house to do these elaborate cooking projects.
I am hoping that I can get over to Koi Palace to get some moon cakes though I might get trampled to death by the older Chinese ladies!
Posted by:Karen Tran |September 11, 2011 at 08:46 PMI love banh trung thu. I grew up with them too. I just asked my mom to buy me some earlier today. Would you consider sharing your mom's sweet meat & nuts filling? The black bean & mung bean mixtures found in most banh trung the are so blah.
Posted by:Xuanie |September 11, 2011 at 09:03 PMDiane -- Keep hope alive for moon cakes tasting good!
Karen -- There was period when I made moon cakes for weeks, trying to get the technique down on paper.
Yeah, my mom is quite a woman. Bet she'll read this post. LOL.
Xuanie -- The filling recipe is in Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. It's the last recipe in the book and it's the longest.
Nate -- Thanks for sharing your moon cake recipe!!! :)
Ellen -- I had a red date (jujube) with egg yolk recently and it was divine. The red date had a slightly smoky quality. A friend had brought them back from Taiwan in a spiffy wooden box! High class moon cakes...
Posted by:Andrea Nguyen |September 11, 2011 at 09:45 PMI don't really care for moon cakes, and certainly don't like them enough to learn how to make them, and I absolutely HATE how much I have to spend at the market on a tin box with 4 cakes in it.
But I surely hope I can keep buying, eating, and serving moon cakes every Tet Trung Thu, from now till I'm 95.
I may not love the moon cakes as food (and I prefer fruitcakes), but rightly or wrongly I value them as a very modest little reminder of a holiday that gets too little recognition in the US.
Plus, if I don't feed wedges of moon cake to my godsons, probably no one will. So I'm grateful for the cakes giving me an opportunity to make little kids laugh at ridiculous stories about Chu Cuoi, or an ambitious carp that aspired to being a dragon.
Posted by:Simon Bao |September 12, 2011 at 07:06 AMI'm not a huge fan of sweets, but I LOVE mooncakes! I received a homemade one from my co-worker this morning with matcha & whole red bean filling... it was divine!
Posted by:star |September 12, 2011 at 01:13 PMI always look forward to Indonesian style Mooncakes. It has different types of filling and different type of skin. My favorites are chocolate, cheese, raisin, cashews, durian, and of course pork mixed with winter melon, fried shallots, and sesame seeds. As far as I know, this particular mooncake isn't sold outside Indonesia. Thus, I always wait for the care package from home.
Enjoy your Mid-Autumn Festival, Andrea.
Posted by:Tuty |September 12, 2011 at 03:26 PMI wonder if you can answer a question for me. I was in Bangkok in June/July and took a photo of some cakes and a friend identified them as moon cakes. Being completely unfamiliar with moon cakes, I took his word, but now that it is moon cake season, I don't see any that are like what I saw at all.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1867018917370&set=t.1331711470&type=1&theater any idea what those are?
Thanks in advance!
Guess I'll have to be the lone voice of 100% dislike for Mooncakes! They've always been around my house for the holidays and believe me I've tried to like them but I just can't do it. Though, I've only had the commercial kind and gracious, I can't do it. Especially those who knows how old egg yolks.
Posted by:Brian @ Castirontherapy |September 12, 2011 at 09:28 PMTuty -- Cheese in moon cakes? Wow. I need to learn more about the Indonesian take! The mixed savory-sweet filling you described is similar to the Vietnamese meat and sweetmeats version that I make. There's char siu in there, some mock shark fin, a little pork fat, lots of candied sweetmeats and various nuts and seeds.
Posted by:Andrea Nguyen |September 13, 2011 at 03:21 PMBrian -- you're not alone. Here's an article from the Toronto Star by a Chinese-Canadian. His first line in the story: The Chinese make the worst desserts.
http://www.thestar.com/living/food/article/1050373--the-myth-of-the-mooncake
I disagree with that blanket statement but it was meant to provoke.
Posted by:Andrea Nguyen |September 13, 2011 at 03:23 PMThanks Andrea, that was a quirky read! I don't want to agree wholesale with the rather provoking statement, so instead I will query, what other nations have dessert menus that can compete with the Chinese for that rather dubious title?
Posted by:Brian @ Castirontherapy |September 13, 2011 at 08:18 PMI hate to say it, as I'm a big fan of Indian culture, food, music, and damn near everything else about the place - AND I cook Indian food every week, even for breakfasts - but I do not like Indian desserts. Too sweet, and many are too milky for me. Sometimes I like South Indian payasams, kheer, or carrot halva, but that's about it. I think they could give China a run for its money in the bad dessert sweepstakes.
On the other hand, I love Thai desserts and sweet snacks.
But really - nothing competes with chocolate. Nothing.
Posted by:Diane |September 13, 2011 at 08:56 PMWe found mooncakes made by a local (Vancouver, Canada) bakery this year with nut, bean, pineapple and lotus fillings and they were so much better than anything we'd had before. The dough was fresh tasting and tender (not mooshy)and the fillings weren't as super sweet. I was a teacher in China for a year and around the Autumn Moon Festival I received mooncakes from ALL my students, which numbered in the hundreds. I did end up freezing and eventually eating most of them and they ranged from blech to bleah to yum.
Posted by:Lisa |September 14, 2011 at 07:44 PMI love moon cake so much. That's all I can say.
Alvin
Posted by:restaurants in Laguna Philippines |September 15, 2011 at 07:29 PMMmn moon cakes, love them! I can eat the whole moon cake all by myself in the one go. Essentially love the mixed nuts and double eggs variety which are expensive in Australia during the Trung Thu season but are slightly discounted afterwards.
Posted by:Thuy |September 17, 2011 at 05:15 PMThe study of more than 50,000 adults ages 18 and older provides new molecular evidence that 11 DNA regions in the human genome have strong association with these diseases, including six regions not previously observed.
Posted by:best watches replica |September 20, 2011 at 12:54 AM Verify your Comment Previewing your CommentPosted by: |This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.
\ABS\Auto Blog Samurai\data\Best Asian Food Blogs\Viet World Kitchen\spinner.gif)
Your comment could not be posted. Error type: Your comment has been posted. Post another comment The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again. As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.
Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.
Your Information
(Name and email address are required. Email address will not be displayed with the comment.)
Name is required to post a comment
Please enter a valid email address
Invalid URL
Be Connected
Get news via RSS or email 
Get updates in Facebook
Follow me on TwitterSearch VWK
\ABS\Auto Blog Samurai\data\Best Asian Food Blogs\Viet World Kitchen\buttonc.png)
EventsONLINE LIVE Q&A
Washington Post's "Free Range on Food"
Sept 21, 12-1pm (EST)
Click to jump to the site & join the convo. I'm subbing for Editor Joe Yonan to field Q's about tofu!Share Shots#flickr_badge_source_txt {padding:0; font: 11px Arial, Helvetica, Sans serif; color:#666666;}#flickr_badge_icon {display:block !important; margin:0 !important; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0) !important;}#flickr_icon_td {padding:0 5px 0 0 !important;}.flickr_badge_image {text-align:center !important;}.flickr_badge_image img {border: 0px solid black !important;}#flickr_badge_uber_wrapper {width:150px;}#flickr_www {display:block; text-align:center; padding:0 10px 0 10px !important; font: 11px Arial, Helvetica, Sans serif !important; color:#3993ff !important;}#flickr_badge_uber_wrapper a:hover,#flickr_badge_uber_wrapper a:link,#flickr_badge_uber_wrapper a:active,#flickr_badge_uber_wrapper a:visited {text-decoration:none !important; background:inherit !important;color:#3993ff;}#flickr_badge_wrapper {background-color:#ffffff;border: solid 1px #000000}#flickr_badge_source {padding:0 !important; font: 11px Arial, Helvetica, Sans serif !important; color:#666666 !important;}www.flickr.com
More in Viet World Kitchen pool. Add yours!RecipesAppetizer and Snack RecipesBanh (Crepes, dumplings, cakes, bread) RecipesBanh Mi Sandwich RecipesBasic Sauces, Stocks and Garnishes RecipesChile Sauce RecipesClaypot (Kho) RecipesDeep-Fried RecipesDessert and Sweets RecipesDipping Sauces RecipesDrink and Beverage RecipesGluten-Free RecipesGrilled RecipesMain Course RecipesMeat RecipesNoodles RecipesOne-Dish Meals RecipesPho RecipesPoultry and Egg RecipesRice RecipesSalad RecipesSeafood RecipesSoup RecipesStir-Fry RecipesStreet Food RecipesVegan RecipesVegetable Sides and Pickles RecipesVegetarian Recipes Vietnamese RecipesNon-Vietnamese RecipesHandy InfoAsian IngredientsAsian MarketsBasic Vietnamese KitchenBook Reviews + moreCooking Tips and ToolsEssentials: Fish SauceEssentials: NoodlesEssentials: Pho Noodle SoupEssentials: RiceEssentials: Rice PaperGardeningHow to Find Asian Markets & IngredientsMama SaysTet New Year CelebrationTravelViet World Kitchen | Copyright 2002-2011 by Andrea Nguyen | Privacy Policy
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js'%3E%3C/script%3E"));COMSCORE.beacon({ c1: 2, c2: "6035669", c3: "", c4: "http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2011/09/moon-cakes-love-or-hate-them.html", c5: "", c6: "", c15: ""});
No comments:
Post a Comment