Mooncake recipe red bean paste3/1/2024 ![]() ![]() It is for that reason that rabbits appear very often as decorative motifs on mooncake boxes and containers. It is said that one of Chang’e’s few companions in the Lunar Palace was the mythical Jade Rabbit. ![]() Commoners placed offerings before the moon to thank Chang’e for his sacrifice. To prevent him from ruling forever, Chang’e decided to ingest the elixir and fled. It states that Hou Yi became a tyrant after saving the world. There is another version of the Chang’e legend that is very different. In time, this practice of offering food to the moon became associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival. Hou Yi, sad and grief-stricken, took to placing Chang’e’s favorite cakes and fruits before the moon in her memory. Transformed into an immortal being, Chang’e ascended to the Lunar Palace where she was to live forever separated from her husband. In the most popular version of the story, it is said that she was forced to do so to prevent a thief from stealing the coveted elixir. There are several legends of the Chang’e myth, but what they all have in common is that her husband was the legendary archer Hou Yi (后羿), the hero who struck down nine of the ten suns to save the world from a scorching death.Īs a reward for his feat, Hou Yi received an elixir of immortality and it was Chang’e who subsequently ingested it. I don’t eat it in one bite, but I don’t share it, I eat it whole hahaha.Īpparently mooncakes are linked to Chang’e (嫦娥), immortality goddess, the moon and symbol of the Mid-Autumn Festival. ![]() Here I will digress briefly to say that, for my part, I’ve already done it wrong…. Each cake must be cut into portions and shared with others. In Chinese culture, it is considered strange, even impolite, to eat a whole mooncake. Suzhou Mooncakes: They are made with a completely salted filling.Mooncakes “ snow skin” from Hong Kong: Made with glutinous rice flour, it can be given different colors.Mooncakes Chao shan (Teochew): The dough has a dome shape.It is usual to accompany this sweet paste with other ingredients such as salted egg yolks, nuts, seeds, pieces of fruit or even salted products such as dried ham.Īpart from the Cantonese version, there are many other regional variations: The fillings generally consist of a dense paste made with lotus seeds ( recipe lotus seed paste), sweet red beans or jujube (fruit of immortality). Top crust of Cantonese mooncakes, the thin layer that covers the filling, usually bears auspicious Chinese characters such as “longevity” or “harmony”, although the maker’s name can also be found. The most widely sold and consumed Chinese mooncake, also called Cantonese style, is round and has a size of about ten centimeters in diameter and one and a half centimeters thick. There are many types of mooncake depending on the region. With the difference of several centuries between the Tang and Ming dynasties, it is believed that mooncake began to be consumed as an aristocratic luxury before it was adopted and consumed by everyone. People promoted many different activities to celebrate it such as burning pagodas and performing the fire dragon dance. This practice was probably the one that inspired the association of the cake with the festival.Īlthough the association can be traced back to the Tang dynasty, the practice and tradition of making and eating these mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival began during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).ĭuring the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644 AD) and the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1912 AD), the Mid-Autumn Festival was as popular as the Chinese New Year. During these early centuries, moon cake was given other names such as yue tuan (月团) and xiao bing (小饼).ĭuring the reign of Emperor Xizong of the Tang dynasty (873-888), mooncakes were also given by the court to visiting scholars during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Mooncakes are especially mentioned in Wu Zhimu’s Chronicle of the Southern Song Dynasty (吴自牧).īut, the tradition of using baked cakes as an edible offering to lunar gods and goddesses existed long ago in the Middle Kingdom. The earliest mention of these mooncakes, known as yue bing (月饼) in Chinese, dates from the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Its history dates back more than 1,000 years. Although it is a sweet that can be enjoyed all year round, tasting it on this date can be more attractive if we take into account its traditions or meanings. For the Chinese, this holiday is an important and emotional time because it is associated with family reunions, meeting friends and, of course, enjoying a real mooncake feast.
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