The mid-autumn festival is one of my favorite Asian
celebrations because it highlights family, togetherness, and there’s the
spectacular moon – the brightest of the year. (Think of Dean Martin crooning, “When
the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie . . .”) You’re supposed to take
time out to hang out with your family and friends, walk in the romantic moonlit
night and nibble on moon cake. Last week, Kathy sent an email about cooking
Vietnamese food as a Vietnamese Jewish American and she got me thinking about the
importance of observing Jewish Shabbat (day of rest) and taking time to maintain
personal rituals. Then I realized that the Mid-Autumn Festival was coming up.
It moves around as it follows the lunar calendar so I checked online. This year
the festival, popularly known as the Moon Festival, falls on October 3. In Vietnamese, this holiday is called Tet Trung Thu. There is plenty of holiday folklore about what you see in the moon too.
Yikes, I skipped making moon cakes in 2008 because I was
busy polishing the Asian Dumplings manuscript. It’s one of my annual rituals and
this year, my schedule will be a tight squeeze but I’m determined to make two
dozen moon cakes.
What are moon cakes? They’re like the Asian version of fruit
cake but encased in a ⅛ inch thin pastry. Beautiful to look at and delicately
flavored, moon cakes are one of the greatest Chinese culinary inventions. Most
people buy them but my mom taught me how to make them at home. My family’s
version (see Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, page 300-305 for the detailed recipe) has a
filling of nuts, candied fruit, meat, lime peel and rose petal liquor. Moon
cakes are one of the most difficult Asian pastries to make and if I don’t
practice, I’ll be out of shape.
A buttery golden salted egg yolk sits at the center of each
moon cake as a symbol of the moon. While you can buy salted eggs, I salt the
eggs myself, which is what you see pictured above; there's a zip-top bag partially filled with water keeping the eggs submerged in the salted water. Every year, I look up the
date for the Moon Festival and count a good 4 weeks backwards to see when I
should get the eggs salting. That’s what happened today and they’ll be ready on
September 29. Note that 4 weeks is the cycle of the moon. Coincidence or what?
I have photos of how moon cakes are shaped but Rory promises to
videotape me so that I can post the live action on this site. If you’re unfamiliar with how
moon cakes are made, the process involves firmly whacking a wooden mold several
times. Lots of violent drama for a delicate morsel. But they’re worth it, a
perfect match for a fragrant cup of tea, and a great way to rest, relax and
gaze at the gigantic full moon that’s to be expected on October 3.
Between now and the end of September, I’m making a list of
who I’ll gift my moon cakes to. For sure, I’ll mail a few to my mom and take a
few to Australia when I go for the Sydney International Food Festival (October
9-11). Luke Nguyen of acclaimed Red Lantern restaurant are doing a Vietnamese cooking
demo, and he promises to show me around the Australian Little Saigon enclave in
Cabramatta. He’ll get one. Asian food and pastry expert Christopher Tan of
Foodfella.com and I scheduled to discuss food blogging so he’ll get one to. The
rest are wild cards so stay tuned. For now, I've taken the first step by salting those eggs!
Have any experiences or rituals to share about the Mid-Autumn festival? Do you like to eat moon cakes?
Related information:
Robyn says
Hope you'll have room to pack one for Fuschia Dunlop when you head to Sydney too!
http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/good-living/an-authority-on-fine-china/2009/07/28/1248546719117.html
Sounds like it'll be a great festival, Sydney's only 3 hours from here, but unfortunately I can't go. Will look forward to your report! Have a great time.
Robyn in NZ
Minh - Nhu Nguyen says
Andrea any left over just post it onwards to Perth while you're in Sydney.
All we get are imports from china ( I think).
Minh - Nhu
Andrea Nguyen says
Ah, you two are too much. I suppose if I were smart, I'd sell moon cakes via mail order. Only I'd have to charge an arm and a leg!
minh-Nhu Nguyen says
Andrea,
You might need to check and see if you are allowed to bring them into Australia. We're very strict with food imports!!
Rose-Marie says
I think you might have problem getting mooncakes through customs, especially if they contain egg and meat.
Here is a link to AQIS database:
http://www.aqis.gov.au/icon32/asp/ex_querycontent.asp
If you type in "mooncake" in the first box (no need to fill in the rest) you'll get the answer...
Andrea Nguyen says
Minh-Nhu and Rose-Marie,
I think you're both right. Even though I wouldn't be bringing the moon cakes in for commercial purposes, they're not allowed. How sad. Boy, thank you for pointing this out.
Is this a big issue right now in Australia?
A.
Minh-Nhu Nguyen says
Andrea,
It's only a big issue for older generation who wants to bring stuff into the country when they're returning from Viet Nam. Many a times my parents have had to chuck stuff out at the border. And our relatives don't seem to believe us when we tell them not to gift us food.
But I completely get it, we need to protect our produce from diseases.
Wendy Wong says
Do you have the recipe for making salty eggs? Thanks.
Thang says
I hear you're coming to Sydney soon, and will be at the Cabramatta Moon Festival. My friend organises the International Good Food Month.
It would be great to see you in the flesh.
http://www.thangblog.com/2009/09/it-wont-be-long-before-moon-festival.html
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Anna says
Hi Andrea,
Is there a difference in moon cakes between Chinese and Vietnamese? My roommate and I were talking about this, and she mentioned the Vietnamese version is lighter and flakier. I think I may have only had the Chinese version.
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ClubPenguinCheats says
My roommate and I were talking about this, and she mentioned the Vietnamese version is lighter and flakier.
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