I used to assist my mother to make moon cakes for the annual Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, but a number of years ago, she ‘hung up her gloves’ and handed me her moon cake molds. I practiced and practiced until I got the technique and recipe down. The long and very detailed recipe is in my cookbook, Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. It’s arguably one of the more difficult forms of pastry to master, and I skipped it last year due to my busy work schedule, much to my family’s chagrin since they now rely upon me for their supply since my mom retired.
Despite a hectic schedule this year, I went at it again, salting 2 dozen jumbo chicken eggs for 28 days. When the eggs finished their salty soak in our hall closet, it was time to make moon cakes. The kind my family enjoys is filled with a savory sweet filling of toasted nuts, sweet meats (citron and ginger), roasted meats, lime leaf, and rose petal liquor (mei kwei lu chiu/mai que lo). It’s complex cooking and takes up a whole day. Here’s a gallery of a few of the components:
But every time I do it, I remind myself of how I’m preserving a little bit of the past for the future. It’s old-school cooking and most people buy their own moon cakes. But I love my homemade ones as I made them from a recipe brought from Vietnam and tweaked in the United States. I may not be able to convince you to make your own. For posterity and your entertainment, I put together this video. Enjoy and let me know if you savored some moon cake with tea tomorrow night!
Additional information:
Serious Eats: The Best Moon Cakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival (NYC sources) by Gordon Mark and Chichi Wang
Gastronomer says
LOVED the video! You are so bad-ass making your own banh trung thu! I will be eating some tomorrow with my grandparents, but they'll be of the store bought variety.
I hope to make my own moon cakes sometime. Gotta get my hands on those cool molds.
Andrea Nguyen says
Gastronomer/Cathy -- that wooden mold is kinda empowering... thanks!
Christi says
That's awesome! Your demo sure beat the demo that Martin Yan did on the today show for the Beijing Olympics. Now I'm really craving the rich salty sweet flavor of a moon cake with a glass of tea.
Crazy_Cake_Lady says
LOVE the video! Always wondered how these were made. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Flower says
I was looking forward to this video even tho Im not a fan of them. Mom always made sure she picked me up to softer type. I havent had either in years tho 🙁
Stephanie says
This is a wonderful video, thanks so much Andrea. I drop by regularly and really enjoy reading your blog posts. I was wondering if you or any of your readers can recommend somewhere in Melbourne (Australia) or Auckland (New Zealand) where I might be able to buy a moon cake mold, or two? I'd love to have a go making my own moon cakes. Thanks!
Lan says
I'm surprised by how precise you have to be with this recipe. The technique used to unmold the cake without damaging it was quite interesting.
Henry Millis says
Very interesting article! Thanks for your great blog and your nice type of writing.
Best regards, Henry
Andrea Nguyen says
Precision is important but there are many parts that you can fudge. For example after baking, the cakes spread out a little, but you can reshape them, straighten up their sides with your hands while the cakes are still hot. Crazy, no? But totally cool Thanks for watching and commenting. Makes me look forward to making them again next year!
Btw, I sent my mother 2 cakes overnight for the moon festival yesterday. She leaves a phone message to thank me and say, "But the postage was too much!" It was cheaper than me driving down to your house, Mom.
Thang says
Delicious looking Banh Trung Thu, Andrea!
Did you end up coming to Sydney for Trung Thu? If you did please try my favourite noodle restaurant (mi), Tan Viet in Cabramatta http://www.thangblog.com/2009/10/tan-viet-noodles.html
Lips says
nice video. i totally enjoyed it.
Kitchen Cabinets Man says
Wow, looks fantastic I can't wait to give this a try. I love the artwork on top to make them unique.
Andrea Nguyen says
Thanks for the kind words. Yep, the cakes are lovely. I'm amazed every time I make them.
baby crib says
The video was nice! It is amazing! I always wonder how those moon cakes were made.
Tuty says
Beautiful mooncakes, great photographs and video. Thank you, Andrea..
clekitty says
Thanks for sharing this! My parents always reminisce about how good the moon cakes were in Vietnam and how the store bought ones in New Zealand just didn't compare.. Love those moulds! I would love to get my hands on some (not for making moon cakes..) for decoration!
eat me outta here says
Where can I find the recipe for your mooncakes? I bought the molds but couldn't find a good recipe using ingredients that I can get in the US. Thanks in advance! Loooove the video!
betsson says
Thanks for the kind words. Yep, the cakes are lovely. I'm amazed every time I make them
Air Jordans says
shishang zicai bing, shenghuo jiankang you meili. ni keyi qu pinwei yixia.
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Top Cosmetology Schools says
These are so cute! I remember buying these at a hotel gift shop when I was younger. It's cool to see how they are actually made.
Beauty Schools says
I love the molds. they are adorable!!
Beauty Schools Directory says
Thanks for the great recipe!
aiza@cakesonline says
wow. only good words for your mooncakes. I love it.Buy Cakes
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Chris says
Hi Andrea,
I enjoy this recipe from your cookbook "Into the Vietnamese Kitchen." However, I see many different size moon cake molds out there (50g, 63g, 75g, 100g, etc.).
So, how do I match the amount of filling and dough portion to the size or capacity of the mold?
If the mold size is 100g, do I simply use 50g filling + 50g dough wrapper?
If there is a mathematical formula (2g filing to 1g dough?, please share it.
My Lan Duong says
Can you email me the recipe for the moon cake along with recipe for salted eggs?
Trieu Anh :D says
do you have a printable recipe? how do you make the dough? please answer... i want to make some with my mom because i like to cook and bake with her. she is very fun to be with.
Trieu Anh :D says
do you have a printable recipe? how do you make the dough? please answer... i want to make some with my mom because i like to cook and bake with her. she is very fun to be with.
Andrea Nguyen says
For the recipe, see Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, a cookbook that you may find at your local library, bookstore, or Amazon: http://amzn.to/9IOCPL
Chris: Here's a site where you can get a mold:
http://www.wokshop.com/HTML/products/hard_to_find/hard_to_find_mooncake.html
I got one from their shop in San Francisco. Note the dimensions to use as your guide.
marlon says
These are so cute! I remember buying these at a hotel gift shop when I was younger.
Huong says
Hi Andrea, can you repeat again where you bought the molds in San Francisco, couldn't make out what you said in the video, thanks! 🙂
Andrea Nguyen says
Surely, Huong...
Here's a site where you can get a mold: http://www.wokshop.com/HTML/products/hard_to_find/hard_to_find_mooncake.html