Mid-Autumn festival moon cake is also called reunion cake. Because the moon cake is circle and it’s the symbol of the reunion of the world. Historically, moon cakes first appeared as sacrifices to express people's respect for the moon god, which is also a kind of "cultural consumption". After sacrificing to the moon god, the moon cake is eaten by people.
Due to China's vast territory, so the differences in dietary habits around the country is very big, such as the difference of moon cake is surprising. As the traditional food of the Mid-Autumn Festival, moon cake is originally a cake shaped like the full moon, and its appearance is the original shape, indicating the meaning of reunion. After a long period of evolution and development, moon cake in China has been continuously renovated and increased in varieties. The regional differences make the varieties have unique styles in appearance. Well, do you know what kinds of moon cakes there are? Continue to read this article you will find the answer.
Cantonese-Style Mooncake – One of The Most Popular
Although originated in Guangzhou, Guangzhou-style mooncakes have become popular all over the country and are produced in Guangdong, Jiangxi, Shanghai and other places, making them the largest type of mooncake at present. Even overseas Chinese, students and so on, as far as Japan, Southeast Asia, Australia, the United States, all to the Cantonese style moon cake for the Mid-Autumn Festival must-have good products. Usually, the ratio of filling is 1:4. The content of filling oil is higher than that of other types. It tastes soft and smooth with outstanding luster on the surface.
Beijing-Style Mooncake -- Palace Style
Originated in Beijing and Tianjin and its surrounding areas, it has a certain market in the northern area in China. Its main characteristics are moderate sweetness and the ratio of skin filling. Generally, the ratio of skin filling is 2:3. The most distinctive feature of The Beijing-style mooncake is its imperial style, exquisite workmanship and complicated production procedures, ranking first among the four major mooncake systems in China. The selection process is also quite complicated. Take the red date material used in moon cakes as an example, it is necessary to select the Miyun red dates (密云红枣) of the specified month, which has a small nucleus, sweet meat and juice and honey. Then the dates of the same specification are selected through screening, and then the process of removing the core, removing the skin, removing the residue, sorting the most suitable red dates and so on.
Suzhou-Style Mooncake
Suzhou style mooncakes originated in Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces and surrounding areas. The Suzhou-style moon cake is characterized by "pastry". Its filling is pressed tightly, and it will fall apart when it is gently cracked with teeth. The filling includes five kernel, bean paste, etc., which is sweeter than other kinds of moon cakes.
Yunnan-Style Mooncake
Yunnan style mooncakes, also known as Yunnan Ham mooncakes. This kind of moon cake is made of Xuanwei (宣威) ham, a specialty of Yunnan, filled with honey, lard and sugar, and baked with purple wheat flour from Kunming Chenggong. Its surface is golden yellow or brownish red, outside has a hard shell, oil embellish gorgeous, thousand layers of crisp skin wrapped filling heart. This kind of moon cake combines the fragrant ham with the attractive sweet and salty honey juice, which is comfortable to eat but not greasy.
Hong-Kong Style Mooncake
Mooncakes made from sticky rice have a white appearance because they are partly made from glutinous rice. After it is prepared, it is kept in cold storage, so it is cold and hence the name. It does not need to be baked, is soft and smooth, slightly elastic, white as snow color, is a new favorite moon cake introduced from Hong Kong.
The Flavors of China’s Mooncakes
Egg-Yolk Lotus Seed Paste Mooncake (蛋黄莲蓉月饼)
Lotus seed paste mooncake is a common mooncake in the market. With lotus seed paste and egg yolk as fillings, its skin is thin and oily. The filling is smooth and sweet. Lotus seed paste is a smashed lotus seed.
Sweetened Bean Pastes Mooncake (豆沙月饼)
Sweetened bean pastes moon cake is steamed red beans beat rotten after adding sugar and then stir-fry, made of bean paste moon cake stuffing. Bean paste mooncakes also have an excellent taste, with a strong bean flavor and can be swallowed without the discomfort of other mooncakes sticking to your throat.
Five Kernel Mooncake （五仁月饼）
The so-called five kernels are not only five, but are made from a variety of different fillings, generally including walnut kernels, peanut kernels, pine kernels, sesame kernels and so on, with the implication of perfection and harmony.
It is also said that the five kernel mooncake represents “rén (仁), yì (义), lǐ (礼), zhì (智), xìn(信)“. “rén (仁) “ means a compassionate attitude towards life, towards people and other things.
“yì (义)“ means follow the path of justice; “lǐ (礼) “ is the form of rules that hold society together; “zhì (智) “ is the ability to distinguish between right and wrong based on the benefit of the judgment; “xìn(信)“ means people should adherence to and high respect for commitments. These five elements make China a state of courtesy.
How to Cut a Mooncake?
Step 1: Prepare a mooncake first, because mooncakes have a shelf life, so uneaten mooncakes must be sealed and stored in the refrigerator.
Step 2: Cut in the middle of the moon cake, since it's easy to cut away from the center to make sure that each piece has the same filling. If it is five kernel moon cake will be hard, need more force. (If it is a big moon cake, a serrated knife is the best way to divide the moon cake.)
Step 3: After cutting the cake in half, cut it in half in the opposite direction. In this way, the moon cake becomes four equal parts. If there are more people, you can continue to divide. Divide the quarter of the moon cake into equal parts, or anything else like that into 8 equal parts.
The Shelf Life and Calorie of The Mooncake
Generally speaking, there are two kinds of moon cakes on the market. There are mainly packaged moon cakes and homemade moon cakes. Packed mooncakes contain some food additives and can be kept for a long time. The shelf life of the packaged mooncake is generally 2-3 months. The homemade mooncake does not contain any food additives. It also contains more water and is more likely to spoil. Generally speaking, the shelf life of homemade mooncakes is around 10-15 days.
While enjoying the delicious food, let's also compare the calories of different mooncakes. According to statistics, one lotus seed paste mooncake has 716 calories, which is more than five fried chicken legs. One ice skin lotus seed paste mooncake has 983 calories, more than three pizzas. One red bean mooncake has 825 calories, more than two sundaes.
What Is The Best Food to Eat with Mooncake?
Mooncake + Tea
Tea and moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn festival can be said to be a "perfect mix and match." When eating moon cakes, then drinking a cup of thick fragrant tea, not only to help digestion, but also a certain weight loss effect. Mooncake and tea can be described as a "perfect combination".
Mooncake + Red Wine
"Moon cake + red wine" is a very popular fashion collocation in these years. From the point of view of health preservation, there are a variety of amino acids, minerals and vitamins in red wine, can remove the greasy moon cake. Salty mooncakes, such as ham and marinated pork, can be served with a light and astringent red wine to soften the grease. Furthermore, salty mooncakes are good with beer if they are spicy.
Mooncake+ Fruit
You can eat some fruit with the mooncake. However, when choosing fruits, experts also suggest that it is best not to choose apples, peaches, plums, apricots, pears, watermelons and other fruits with high sugar content. Because moon cakes themselves belong to the high sugar food, if you eat too much high sugar fruit, it will greatly increase the burden on your body. You can eat some pears and oranges and cherries.
Further reading:
How to Order Take-out on High-speed Train?
Food and Takeout on China’s Trains
