![]() ![]() ![]() It's a pretty esoteric food (describing them to friends almost always results in furrowed brows and exclamations of "What are lotus seeds? Wait, a duck egg?!"), and they might seem completely out of place at an American warehouse chain. There's a type known as "five kernel mooncake," which, according to my father, is the Chinese fruitcake that's often gifted and re-gifted to unfortunate recipients. Mooncake fillings are almost always sweet and can be made with different nuts, seeds or beans. The yolk isn't my favorite part, so my mother gets most of what ends up in my portion. The salty, crunchy yolk crumbles when cut and contrasts with the almost cloying sweetness around it. A dense rich filling of sweetened lotus seed paste envelops the yolk from a salted duck egg. Mooncakes are about the size and heft of a hockey puck, with a thin crust. I've been eating these pastries since I can remember, and I start craving them right at the cusp of fall, as sunsets get earlier and the nights grow colder. A box of four mooncakes generally costs anywhere between $10 and $50 (though more expensive brands can certainly be found), and my parents are usually willing to splurge on the higher end of that scale for their favorite brand.Īt home, my family cuts the mooncake into wedges, and we eat crowded around the kitchen counter or bent over the sink to avoid spilling crumbs. They're shared among family and friends as a symbol of wishing prosperity in the coming year. The mooncake is traditionally only served during the Mid-Autumn Festival, on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. I take one back to my mother and ask, "Can we get one?" There's a large display of square tins, each decorated with a painting of a Chinese man. Samples are, after all, the only reason to visit Costco in the middle of a Sunday. I grab a piece (OK, a couple) before the jostling crowd behind me can get to it. The little plastic sample tray is empty, but the man behind the counter quickly replaces it with one full of a mooncake cut into teeny-tiny pieces. This year, Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated on Sept. Mooncake fillings are almost always sweet, and can be made with different nuts, seeds or beans.Įditor's note: This story was originally published in 2013. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |