Saturday, September 1, 2012

Mooncake Festival 2012




I received from a good friend my supply of mooncakes to celebrate Mooncake Festival. Like my fondness for hopia I definitely love the delicate taste of mooncake. There are different flavors now available in the market but I go for the classic White Lotus Seed Paste with yolks and this time the one I have eaten shown in the photo below contains four yolks and it is so divine in taste, the yolks like a good salted egg oozes with its own rich oil. For the month of September I will be blogging about the different flavors of mooncake I received as gift.



 
From wikepedia

The Mid-Autumn Festival (simplified Chinese中秋节traditional Chinese中秋節), also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival or Zhongqiu Festival, is a popular lunar harvest festivalcelebrated by Chinese and Vietnamese people.[1] A description of the festival first appeared in Rites of Zhou, a written collection of rituals of the Western Zhou Dynasty from 3,000 years ago.[1] The celebration became popular during the early Tang Dynasty.[1] The festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, which is in September or early October in the Gregorian calendar, close to the autumnal equinox.[1] The Government of the People's Republic of China listed the festival as an "intangible cultural heritage" in 2006, and it was made a Chinese public holiday in 2008.[1] It is also a public holiday in Taiwan.

One of the significance of moon cake is the overthrow of Mongol rule in China, the story below (source wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Autumn_Festival )

According to a widespread folk tale (not necessarily supported by historical records), the Mid-Autumn Festival commemorates an uprising in Chinaagainst the Mongol rulers of the Yuan Dynasty (1280–1368) in the 14th century.[6] As group gatherings were banned, it was impossible to make plans for arebellion.[6] Noting that the Mongols did not eat mooncakesLiu Bowen (劉伯溫) of Zhejiang Province, advisor to the Chinese rebel leader Zhu Yuanzhang, came up with the idea of timing the rebellion to coincide with the Mid-Autumn Festival. He sought permission to distribute thousands of moon cakes to the Chinese residents in the city to bless the longevity of the Mongol emperor. Inside each cake, however, was inserted a piece of paper with the message: "Kill the Mongols on the 15th day of the 8th month" (traditional Chinese: 八月十五殺韃子; simplified Chinese: 八月十五杀鞑子).[6] On the night of the Moon Festival, the rebels attacked and overthrew the government. What followed was the establishment of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), under Zhu. Henceforth, the Mid-Autumn Festival was celebrated with moon cakes on a national level.




Read more here about mooncake from these links - 


21 comments:

  1. I enjoy eating just a bit of mooncake, but can never finish even a small cake. It's just way too rich for me.

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    1. I do not finish a single cake as well... it should really be eaten i small pieces and savored each small bites and the rest of the pieces to be eaten for some other time hehehe...

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  2. Wow, I didn't know moon cake has been used for such a gloomy history, but whatever the history was all I know is moon cake taste really good =)

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    1. Well it is a festival for Chinese against a foreign aggressor. What I like about the story is how food is really part so much part for of any revolution or that of the fight for freedom.

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  3. That's appetizing man! Too bad I don't have good friends like you that can give me that mooncake too, hehe.

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    1. hehehe, time to expand friendship with those who can be a mooncake giver heheheh...

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  4. My family always receive mooncake and other Chinese delicacies especially during the New Year. I like mooncake but I still prefer hopia :)

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    1. Good for you, good thing we have lots of stores to buy in Binondo. But like fruit cake we usually eat December and New Year, I would prefer to have them during the Mooncake Festival.

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  5. Hopia is my favorite.I am not sure if i already eaten mooncake before. This is different from tikoy, right?

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    1. Yes Ms. Tess different from Tikoy and Hopia. Hopia here in the country now got filling and new add on to the regular filling is mochi (Hopia Mochi). Mooncake is like Hopia in their fillings but its outer design is more elaborate and richer variety fillings. Classic mooncake is with lotus seed paste but can also be mung beans and other seeds/beans.

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  6. Hahahaha...super love to eat mooncake kahit na d ko maintindihan lasa nya gusto ko lang yung semi-sweet cookie thingy nya. Pag NEW YEARS EVE daming mooncake sa house bigay ng lola kong Chinese.

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    1. Dito sa pinas it seems it is a year round food but in China, HK, Taiwan and Vietnam it is more usual to find them in the market during the Autumn Season or in time of its Festival, the Mooncake Festival.

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  7. i remember when I was a trainee at Mandarin Hotel in Makati, they sell moon cakes and the curiosity is in me.. 3 years had passed, i havent tasted moon cake yet.. i wonder how delicious this is?

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  8. masarap siya, I want to try also those being sold in hotels most probably masarap din...

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  9. yes! its raining moon cake her in singapore and this is the time when i splurged at them almost eating everyday! their just so yummy! xx

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  10. I didn't know there was such a momentous moment in history for mooncakes. I like these but I'm a fan of hopia more :3

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  11. I'm not really a fan of moon cakes. :-( But I usually buy some for my mom. I like their designs though. hehe

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  12. I love mooncakes, especially with tea or coffee!

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  13. we had that last year .. my boss brought in boxes of mooncake from macau.. it tastes good in little amount .. dont munch on it in big bite ( nakaka uta kapag marami).. delicious though ...

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  14. Oo nga pala, its September already and I missed having mooncakes. :D

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  15. The original festival of the Moon Cake Festival can trace its roots to overthrow oppressive Mongol rule in China, messages are put inside the moon cake to hide or conceal the messages from the Mongols. This also marks the mid-autumn festival which signals the change of season , some also believes that the moon is at its fullest and brightest during this time of the year. Philippine made moon cakes differ in some taste , texture compared to its Asian counterparts. There is also dice games played during this time of the year. I hope you enjoyed your moon cake !

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Salamat po!

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