Old but new like moon cake

Post:The Bamboo

A friend of mine once said that you don't like to eat cakes, but for some reason, every full moon of August, you crave a piece of baked cake with a golden brown crust spread with a layer of egg yolk, inside is a layer of smooth green beans covering a plump salted egg.

The Japanese believe that on Tsukimi (Otsukimi or Mid-Autumn Festival) moon-viewing day, Dango is indispensable. This small, white cake is made from glutinous rice, and at first glance resembles sweet rice dumplings. Dango is grilled and eaten with Kuromitsu molasses or red bean sauce. The 15th day of the 8th lunar month in Korea is the Chuseok thanksgiving day with Songpyeon steamed rice cakes made from rice flour kneaded with warm water, wrapped in green bean, sesame, chestnut fillings, etc. The lovely Songpyeon cakes carry the hope of bringing lovely children to the maker. Meanwhile, the people of the Philippines celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with Bakpia Hopia bean-filled baked cakes.

In Vietnam and China, the moon cake is more elaborate and meticulous. The fragrant baked cakes with mixed fillings including Chinese sausage, roasted chicken, candied fat, pumpkin... originated from an interesting story during the war. A general wanted to secretly send a message to the masses, he realized that a cake with mixed fillings like this could easily hide small pieces of paper. So he passed these cakes to the people, one person gave another a cake, they simultaneously passed the secret message to each other.

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As scheduled, every year in the eighth lunar month, every family looks for moon cakes, children carry lanterns and run around the streets. Our story about discovering Mid-Autumn cuisine gradually became more exciting when a friend asked: "If that's the case, why do all countries celebrate Mid-Autumn?", "Why don't other countries celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival, Mid-Summer Festival, but Mid-Autumn Festival?". Few people pay attention to this interesting similarity between Asian countries, countries deeply influenced by the rice civilization. August is the month of harvest, when people rest and enjoy the fruits of their labor. This is when the house is full of rice, the baskets are full of grain, the whole family gathers to play, enjoy the full moon. Therefore, the Mid-Autumn cake always has the taste of sticky rice, rice, beans, reunion and a bountiful harvest.

The most classic recipe for mooncakes has lard - the fat from the back of a pig's neck, used to stir-fry and cook with other ingredients to add richness to the dish. There is also pumpkin jam, Chinese sausage, lotus seeds, white sesame, roasted peanuts, roasted chicken or roasted pork, and especially shredded lemon leaves - the secret to the rich flavor. The cake must have salted eggs. The eggs are salted with different spices such as ginger, cinnamon, wine, sugar... depending on the chef's hand. The cake is a synthesis of salty, sweet, rich, and chewy flavors, the culinary essence of the long-standing rice-growing culture of the East Asian region.

Nowadays, moon cakes have many attractive variations. Traditional cakes are more carefully prepared by adding healthy ingredients such as mixed cakes with roasted chicken and bird's nest, sesame and chia seed cakes... You can find new moon cakes with a combination of East and West styles such as Green Tea Tiramisu; Green Tea with Japanese Azuki red beans (Green Tea Custard Azuki). For those who like the rich aroma of European cakes, Cheesy cheese moon cakes combined with Oreo Chocolate are a new choice for you. Moon cakes combining the passionate flavors of blueberries, grapefruit, and lotus are always popular with the majority, including foreign guests with different tastes. I like lotus seed cakes the most. Lotus seeds are cooked until soft, ground, and mixed into a smooth mass, when you eat them you immediately feel the rich flavor of lotus seeds as if melting in your mouth.

In Vietnam, the Mid-Autumn Festival also has a unique moon cake with the scent of grapefruit flowers. Sticky rice is roasted until it pops, then the popsicles are ground into powder, and you have roasted sticky rice flour, also known as moon cake flour. Mix this flour with sugar water and grapefruit flower water, let it ferment overnight to create a fragrant, soft, white, sticky rice crust. Take the dough and make it into a cake with green bean filling, green rice filling... to create a moon cake that is light and airy like the autumn days in the Northern countryside. In the South, later on, there was fresh moon cake, a new and quite unique variation. The cake crust is made from jelly, the filling is flan, green bean paste or milk jelly.

Another Mid-Autumn Festival has come, the images of sisters and mothers busy baking cakes, uncles and aunts meticulously peeling bamboo to make lanterns, children excitedly running around the streets are always strangely attractive. These are traditional images that never get old in the minds of Vietnamese people.

In Ho Chi Minh City, you can buy moon cakes at:

Renaissance Riverside Hotel Saigon