The Moon Cakes are here! Fall has arrived!
You may ask, what is a Moon Cake ? (For those of you that grew up in the South, you may be more familiar with the ever popular Moon Pie, but that’s another Foodie story.
To the left you are seeing a real Moon Cake, most likely made in Hong Kong or Taiwan then shipped to the US for sale and consumption.
What do you call a Moon Cake in Chinese? The Mandarin name for Moon Cake is ‘yuè bĭng‘ which sounds like you are saying yeah bing but with a lifting sound for each syllable. (Thanks to the Pinyin system all of us English speaking folks can pronounce Chinese words like as if we were from downtown Beijing! )
What is in a Moon Cake? This particular one had an egg yolk in the middle, which most likely was a salted duck egg. The egg yolk was surrounded by a gelatinous layer of sweet lotus seed paste; the outer crust was a flaky texture much like a pecan spin. Some of theme contain sweet bean paste, which to me is just as good as eating chocolate.
Where do you buy Moon Cakes? You can buy them in Chinese grocery stores, which most major cities have several to choose from. I personally shop at Great China which is close to my house, and I get to practice my Mandarin while there. You can also order them online, if you wish to forgo the experience of buying them in person, thus saving yourself any embarrassment at the check out counter when you have trouble deciphering the various types of Moon Cakes and have to ask for help.
How much Moon Cake should you eat? I used to try and eat a whole Moon Cake about 10 years ago when I did not know you were supposed to cut it up in sections. That was also before I had high cholesterol, and now I know better, so i only eat about a fourth of one at a time.
When should you eat a Moon Cake? The Moon Cake is usually eaten to start the Mid-Autumn Festival which coincides with a full moon. I enjoyed mine last week under the full moon on the night of September 22nd. I have however eaten them in August, September, and even in October when the remaining ones were left on the discount table.
I had the privilege to be in Shanghai in August about eight years ago on business, and bought a moon cake at, believe it or not, a Seven-Eleven! It was about two in the morning, and everything was closed except the convenience stores, and I wanted to say that I had actually eaten a Moon Cake while in China.
Here are some more pictures of the Moon Cake, and also the full moon that took place on September 22nd. Enjoy a Moon Cake while you can!
The full moon - taken from my front yard
Moon Cakes are sold in a metal box like this one
Two Moon Cakes left in the box!
The Moon Cake is divided into four pieces, maybe to represent the four seaons?
The salted duck egg is exposed for all to see...
The Bridge of Ideas 