Mid-Autumn Night’s Dream Plus a Delicious Moon Cake Recipe

     Does anyone know which Chinese holiday is coming around the corner in less than a month? That’s right, it’s the Mid-Autumn Festival! This festival, also known as the mooncake festival, is one of four most important and significant holidays in Chinese culture. It is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth month on the lunar calendar, which is around September or early October on the Gregorian calendar we use here. On this day, we look upwards to admire the beauty of the moon and be thankful for all of things we are fortunate enough to have. This holiday has more to it than just gathering with your family and eating delicious mooncakes, there is a rich history that dates back all the way to the Tang dynasty from 618 to 907 A.D. The legend you are about to read, translated from Chinese, is the story that started it all…

     A long time ago, ten flaming fireballs were in the sky. Fiery heat killed crops and people were suffocated in the warmth. Hou-Yi heroically scaled the mountain and aimed his arrow at the suns. One after another fell, leaving one to provide enough light and warmth to Earth. People honored him by electing him to be king.  Drowned in pride, he occupied his time with drinking and having fun. His wife, Chang-e, begged him to be a better king. But he didn’t listen, busy doing whatever he pleased.  

     On the 15th day of the eighth month (Chinese calendar), an immortal gave Chang-e two tablets of the elixir of life. Taking one would make them immortal, but taking both would make one fly to the moon. Chang-e felt that a bad king should not live forever, so she swallowed both pills, ascending her into the sky. Hou-Yi was devastated, then strived to be the king she wanted him to be, but knew that no matter what happened, nothing would change. He thought of her everytime he looked at the night sky, staring into the brightness of the moon to see Chang-e. She watched over him from her place happy to see his improvements.

     From this story, we have come to honor Chang-e and the moon. In addition to gathering with family to view the moon at its brightest and largest, another popular tradition is to eat mooncakes. Although there are many variations from different places in Asia, the standard and most famous is the Cantonese soft pastry filled with lotus seed paste and salted egg yolk. The roundness of the pastry represents completeness and reunion. Another way to celebrate this custom is by making mooncakes at home with family.  

You can try it too!  Here is an easy and scrumptious mooncake recipe for you to make with your family!

 

Tools

  • Mini mooncake 50g mould from eBay

Ingredients (for 10 mini 50g mooncakes)

 

  • 105g of plain flour
  • 55g of Lyle’s golden syrup
  • 25g of vegetable oil
  • ½ tsp of alkaline water/lye water/potassium carbonate (鹼水) (from local chinese supermarket)
  • 300g of lotus seed paste(蓮蓉)
  • 1 normal egg yolk (for egg wash)
  • 5 salty egg yolk (optional)

Steps

 

  • Mix golden syrup with alkaline water and vegetable oil.
  • Sift plain flour into the mixture and mix them gently (make sure the dough is not over-knead, otherwise the pastry will crack in the oven).
  • Cover the dough with cling film and let it rest for 40 minutes.
  • Divide the lotus seed paste into 10 (30g each) and roll each one into balls (optional: put half of the salty egg yolk in the middle of the lotus ball).
  • Divide the dough into 10 (20g each) and roll them into balls.
  • Pre-heat the oven at 150 degree.
  • Place the dough ball in between 2 pieces of cling film and start rolling it with a rolling pin roughy 10cm diameter.
  • Place the lotus ball in the middle of the pastry, bring the edges of the dough together to cover the fillings and form a mooncake ball.
  • Place the mooncake ball into the mould, turn it around and press it hard against the lined baking tray.
  • Bake them in the oven for 10 mins at 150 degrees.
  • Then brush the mooncakes with egg wash and bake them for another 10 mins at 130 degree.
  • Remove the mooncakes from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack.
  • Store the mooncakes in an air-tight containerfor a day before consume.

Sources: http://www.ntd.tv/2016/11/04/legendary-foundations-chinese-civilization-hou-yi-shoots-nine-suns/

www.monnylam.com/traditional-hello-kitty-mooncakes/

There are 55 comments

  1. Dylan S.

    This is a great article! The story you provided us on the history of why we celebrate this holiday is very interesting, and I learned so much!!

  2. Matthew Lecher

    I loved your article Hitomi. It gave us a great sense of how one could improve, both with their feelings towards a group of people, like in Hou Yi’s case, and also how one could gain back trust for an individual, like in Chang-er’s case. The recipe also sounded quite delicious. I look forward to seeing some more great articles from you in the future!

  3. Juliann L

    Thank you for writing this very informative article on the moon festival. I learned so much about the history of the origins of the moon festival. The photos you added help enhance the visual aspect of the story.

  4. Maya Y.

    Great job on the article, Hitomi! I love that you included the recipe for mooncake, how creative! Keep it up!

  5. Michael P.

    Hi Hitomi! I loved your article. I thought it was very interesting how you chose to include this version of the Moon Festival story in your article. I happened to like this one the best! I also liked how you included the symbolic meanings behind mooncakes in your article. Congratulations on writing your first article and keep up the good work!

  6. Pritesh P.

    Great Job Hitomi! Your article is really helped me understand the Moon Festival story even better. I thought it was really cool how you added a recipe for moon cakes at the end. Keep up the great work!

  7. Halle Fishman

    Great Article! I learned a lot from all the intricate details that were in the writing. I love how the recipe for moon cake was included.

  8. Kelly Wang

    Thank you for the amazing article! The story that you found on the Mid-Autumn Festival was a unique one that I had not heard before, so it is interesting to see how many different interpretations there are on the story of the woman in the moon.

  9. Avery Porges

    Nice work Hitomi. This article was incredibly informative, and I could totally see myself making a moon cake from your recipe. I really enjoyed reading the in depth history of one of China’s most awesome holidays. Thanks!

  10. Preethi Sridhar

    Wow, what an excellent article! It was very interesting to read about, especially the story about how the moon festival came to be. I also love the incorporation of the recipe for the moon cakes. The pictures helped with the cultural aspects of the Chinese mid autumn festival.

  11. Brian C.

    Great article! The story of how the moon festival came to be was very interesting and taught a valuable lesson.

  12. Tiffany C.

    Great job with this article! It was extremely informative and well written. I liked how this legend was different from another one I’ve heard about with the Mid-Autumn Festival. Also, I love how you added a recipe, so people can try to make them at home. I look forward to reading more of your articles soon.

  13. Kelly M.

    Wonderful wording and highly informative! I haven’t heard this version of the story before, but this one makes Cheng-e someone who is thoughtful and did what was best for the people.

  14. Serin A

    Nicely written article 🙂 I hope to hear more about interesting Chinese legends like this in the future.

  15. Helen Zhang

    Nice article!! I love how you include the steps to make the moon cake. It was really interesting. Keep up the good work!!

  16. Stephanie Cen

    Amazing article ! I’m so excited to try this recipe with my family this weekend! Thanks for sharing the story behind this holiday Hitomi! I’ll make sure to share this with my family the old fashion way.

  17. Nicholas Yum

    Great article, Hitomi! The Mid-Autumn Festival is definitely one of the more interesting Chinese holidays. Also, the recipe sounds really delicious! Great work!

  18. Ashley Silverstein

    Great article! I am very excited to try to follow this recipe and make mooncakes one day! I enjoyed reading about the history behind it and then given the recipe as well!

  19. Jeff Bao

    Great article Hitomi, the stories of the Chinese legends are fascinating and interesting. Can’t wait to try out the recipe for the mooncakes! Thanks!

  20. Caroline Strauss

    This was a very interesting article! The history of the moon festival is very fascinating. This sounds delicious.

  21. Maggie G

    Great article! The history of the moon festival is very interesting. The moon cake recipe sounds delicious.

  22. Maggie G

    Great article! The history of the moon festival is very interesting. The moon cake recipe sounds delicious.

  23. Nathan Davis

    Great job. I always found the story of the moon festival very entertaining and enjoyable. I can’t wait to try out this recipe.

  24. Alynah Ratansi

    Wow, what a unique article. Thank you so much for sharing this story, especially what caused this holiday. Very insightful and interesting to read.

  25. amy yang

    通过这篇关于中秋节的文章, 我学到了很多知识,后羿射日,嫦娥奔月。我最喜欢的还是最后那个做月饼的方法,很有趣 ,有机会可以试一下。

  26. Rona Cao

    这篇文章很有趣!中秋节的传说是我小时候最爱听的故事了。中秋节马上就要到了,但是我不喜欢在美国过中秋节因为在美国过都没有过节的气氛。虽然没有气氛,但是月饼还是要吃的。我也想尝试一下在家里做月饼。

  27. Jeffrey Zhang

    Can’t believe that the Mid -Autumn Festival is right around the corner. The story of Chang-e really highlights why we should value family so much and especially on this day. My favorite part is eating all the various mooncakes. Although I can’t make them myself I do enjoy eating them, sometimes even after the Mid-Autumn Festival.

  28. Dylan Patel

    Wow I can’t wait for the mid-autumn festival. Thank you for telling me about all of the traditions. The story behind the festival is very interesting. I love to eat moon cake on the holiday. Thank you so much for teaching me how to make my own!

  29. Claire Ma

    Cool article! I didn’t know the whole story behind the Mid-Autumn festival about Hou-Yi and Chang-e. It was really interesting that we honor Chang-e and the moon on that day. I have eaten Moon cakes before, but I never really understood why. I learned to be thankful for the things we are fortunate to have after reading your article. I can’t wait for Moon festivals so I can eat more moon cakes!

  30. Jake Moreh

    What a cool article. My favorite story for the Mid-Autumn festival was with the archer, Hou-Yi and Chang-e. I think that the lessons taught in that story are very important for living a healthy and viable life. I’ve actually never had a moon cake before, so I definitely want to try them with the recipe you provided. I can’t wait to try them. Thanks for the information!

  31. Audrey Chan

    Wow, such an interesting article. I never knew the story behind the Mid Autumn Festival. I always loved eating moon cakes. Now, maybe I could try to make them myself. Thank you, I can’t wait for the Mid Autumn Festival to come again.

  32. Michael Lin

    Great article! After spending Friday in class discussing the significance of the moon, it is really interesting to come back to see an article like this. I learned a lot about how the moon is perceived in Chinese culture and this just adds to my knowledge. With the festival coming up soon, it is cool to see that you put a recipe up. My family gets many different types of mooncake each year in celebration, but the traditional one is definitely my favorite. I can’t wait to eat them again and hopefully learn more about the moon in class.

  33. Blake Mayourian

    This was a very interesting article that showed me the story behind the Mid Autumn Festival! This festival, also known as the mooncake festival, is one of the four most significant holidays in Chinese culture. It is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth month on the lunar calendar. I learned that chinese people eat mooncakes to remember chang-e in the moon when she consumed both pills. In addition to eating mooncakes, another popular tradition is gather with family to view the moon when brightest and largest.

  34. Preethi Sridhar

    Nice article! It was very interesting to read about, especially the story about how the moon festival came to be. We did a little skit in class to help with the understanding of the tales told during the moon festival. I also love the incorporation of the recipe for the moon cakes. The pictures helped with the cultural aspects of the Chinese mid autumn festival.

  35. Jasmine Chen

    This article was very detailed and informative, Hitomi! I loved how you included the history behind the Mid-Autumn Festival. I never knew mooncakes were Cantonese. I was surprised to see that the recipe only needed seven ingredients. It’s so interesting that the shape of the pastry represented completeness and reunion. I don’t particularly enjoy eating mooncakes myself, but this article is extremely helpful if I ever want to make some for my family! Thank you for sharing.

  36. Mackenzie Setton

    This article was super unique and interesting! I had no clue that the mid-autumn festival always falls on the 15th day of the 8th month on the lunar calendar. I find that super interesting. The recipe was a perfect touch that really made the article even more intriguing. I can’t wait to try to make moon cakes! I found the story of the festival to be extremely fascinating and I love how in the story, after Chang-e flew to the moon, the king began to change for the better. It shares a good and important message. Although my family doesn’t celebrate the mid-autumn festival, I believe it is a genuinely meaningful event that seems to beautifully bring families together. Great article!

  37. Ria Bhasin

    This was such an interesting article. The story of the mid-autumn festival is very interesting. The part where chang-e flew to the moon because she didn’t think huo-yi made a good king was very interesting, it made him turn into the person she wanted him to be. This article really had everything about the mid-autumn festival, the story about it, when it is, and a recipe on how to make it.

  38. Joey Liu

    Although I’m not a big fan of mooncakes, I acknowledge that the moon cake festival is very important in chinese culture. I never knew that the moon cake festival could be traced back to the Tang Dynasty. The mooncake festival sure has a lot of history. In addition, I also never knew that moon cake was a cantonese pastry. It is filled with salted egg yolk and lotus seed paste.

  39. Harrison Berger

    Thank you for telling me about all of the traditions held during mid autumn festival. I loved how you incorrparated the recipie. The story that you found on the Mid-Autumn Festival was a very interesting one, I have not seen that one before. It was weird to see how many different versions there are on the story of the woman in the moon. Thank you for including all of these interesting facts!

  40. Meghna Satheesh

    This is a very nicely written article! Every year I look forward to hearing this story in class, because I always forget. This time, I hope it stays in my memory! I like how you included a moon cake recipe at the end of this article as well, even describing the different varieties. My family doesn’t celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, but it will be exciting to potentially try out this recipe!

  41. Ryan Lam

    This was an interesting story about the history of the moon festival and moon cakes. Even though I’m chinese, I never knew why we celebrate this festival. I didn’t know about this story with Hou-Yi and Chang-e, and it taught me to be grateful for what I have and not to be drowned in pride. I eat moon cakes every year, but I never knew how to make them. I’m still not going to try because I’m going to mess something up.

  42. Josh Dong

    This article was really nice and I liked how it provided a background story for the Mid-Autumn Festival. I also liked how this article put recipes for mooncakes at the bottom so we could try to cook them. Usually, my parents just buy them from the store but this year I might ask my mom to make one of these! The story of the Mid-Autumn Festival has taught me to not get too full of yourself when you get really happy or you will probably regret it. This article was amazing, keep up the good work!

  43. Derek Chu

    Great article Hitomi! Its very well organized and the formatting is nice too. The Mid-Autumn Festival was something I always celebrated with my family being Asian American, but I never knew the origins of the holiday. Every year I had always seen it as the holiday where I eat tasty moon cakes haha. It was really interesting reading the story behind the moon cakes, and ill definitely try out the recipe!

  44. Joanna

    This is a very well written, informative article! The Mid-Autumn Festival is so very interesting to learn about. This article, accompanied by our lesson in class on Friday, really made me excited to look into the festival more, and find out more about its origins. I will definitely come back to this article if I want to make an authentic Chinese moon cake, as it’s a dessert I find very tasty.

  45. Joshua Cheuk

    This is a really neat article! I never heard about the legend of the moon festival. I find it really interesting how the mooncake has so much meaning to the Chinese legend. Also, I liked how you put the recipe for the mooncake. I will definitely use this recipe for Chinese New Year.

  46. William Chen

    Thank you for sharing this informative article! Even though I’ve heard of many other articles about Chang E I’ve never heard of this one! It’s interesting to learn that there are many different versions of the same story. I also never knew that the date was on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. Again thank you for this informative article and I will try to recreate that mooncake recipe.

  47. Morgan Park

    What an article!!! Autumn Moon Festival is coming up, and I totally forgot about it. I never knew that there were stories of this holiday since the Tang Dynasty! I also haven’t heard a story of Chang E like this one. It was really interesting!!! Also, I loved how you included the recipe for moon cakes so that people can continue on the tradition. Great article!!!

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