We just celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival last week,
which is a national holiday dating back to ancient China, and is meant to worship the harvest full moon. Similar
to American Thanksgiving, there’s generally a lot of eating and drinking with
family. Typical customs during the modern holiday include moon-gazing and eating
mooncakes.
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| fancy box of mooncakes |
In my opinion, mooncakes are a bit like our fruitcakes: supposedly
a beloved traditional treat, but actually not that incredibly addictively delicious. Like most Chinese
desserts, they aren’t overly sweet. The outside is a dense eggy cake, often
with fancy flowers and calligraphy imprinted on it. The filling is traditionally
bean paste, but I’ve seen everything from meat- to ice cream- filled mooncakes.
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| mooncake surface view |
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| cut open to reveal the filling |
This year, Pat*’s boss gave him a box of lotus-yolk mooncakes, which he brought over to share with us. I’m not sure what I was expecting on the inside, but I guess I wasn’t thinking quite so literally.
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| egg yolk! |
Yes, that is an egg yolk surrounded by lotus bean
paste. I liked the bean paste, subtly sweet and a rich texture. The yolk, well... it wasn’t my favorite part.
中秋节快乐！(Happy
Mid-Autumn Festival)
*Pat is Matt's dad, he also lives in Shanghai
