Thursday, September 19, 2013

mooncakes for mid-autumn


My friend reminded me that today is the date of the 2013 Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival!

One of the tasty hallmarks of this festival are the mooncakes, which are usually filled with sweet red lotus or red bean paste, plus a salted egg yolk tucked away somewhere so that, when you cut into it (and if you're lucky), you may just get a "full moon" studded in your slice! Sweet salty yum.

I love the intricate designs that are often molded onto the surface of mooncakes, and tried to incorporate their essence into today's illustration. My handwritten script is just as poor as it was when I was 8 years old, but this time I blame Illustrator for that.

If anyone wants to try their hand at a homemade mooncake, here's one nifty & simple recipe. I personally would prefer to buy them from the store in their decorative boxes, though!

Interested in reading more about the Mid-Autumn Festival? Try this article on New York mooncake bakeries or this one on the legends behind the festival.

10 comments:

  1. love that illustration! makes me so hungry for mooncakes! *

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    1. thanks * ! mmm ... did you get to eat any yesterday?

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  2. happy zhong qiou jie! (ping yin phail? :p) this blog is off-the-roof, gurl!

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  3. Whoa, never knew that's why the yolk's in the mooncake. Actually, I never really ever thought about why a mooncake's a mooncake. So many interesting tidbits to be found on this here site. (;

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    1. haha, well at least i think so ! so you just thought the yolk was in there to taste interesting? i used to hate the salty parts (only liked the sweet stuff) but then started to appreciate the balance between the two ...

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    2. haha, yeah, i just thought they wanted a sweet salty combo for fun. i also used to hate the salty parts (same with the egg in the zhongzi). i'll see how well i take it when i eat a mooncake with my bro when he comes back. X)

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  4. 每年佳節倍思親,中秋節,月餅,燈籠,團圓!
    你的月餅太美麗了!

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  5. after growing up in hong kong, i love mooncakes and everything they represent! thanks for the fun fact on the yolk part... i don't think i ever thought about it that way :)
    beautiful illustrations and blog!

    ~ ardena
    awanderer'spath.com

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    1. ardena, thank you :-) oh, hong kong is near & dear to my heart too -- so glad to meet another mooncake aficionado !

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