'Li Bai' Mooncakes

'Li Bai' mooncakes from Sheraton Towers Hotel Singapore.

A few days ago, dad brought home this box.

I don't need to state explicitly its contents, do i?

It should be obvious enough... after all, the moon is shining soo brightly~

haha... yes, mooncakes it was...



ALL 4 of them. The traditional baked ones... with lotus paste and single yolk.

There's something about mooncakes that's just so nostalgic.

I remember when i was younger, I looked forward to the Mooncake Festival. That marks the start of mooncake eating and lantern burning. wait, no, I wasn't that destructive. The lanterns were beautiful - those candle lit ones. Even if they did burn, they burnt by accident. I do however, recall burning leaves. Okay all you environmentalists, please don't panic... they were dried dead leaves.

Enough about burning. This festival is all about mooncakes. Now, there's many stories surrounding mooncakes. Some involves this 'Chang Er' lady who supposedly flew to the moon after drinking her husband's elixir of life. Yes, she became a permanent resident on the moon. She probably beat Neil Armstrong to it. Well we never know... since there wasn't any flag there when he landed.

Other stories include how people hid messages in the mooncakes as a means of communication during war. Whatever it is, I'm just glad mooncakes exist. The look darn good and the ones my dad brought home tasted really yummy:




For those who don't know what goes into mooncakes, well here's a lowdown...

That orange core which you see there is actually egg yolk. not just any egg yolk, but salted ones. They add a rather savoury taste which blends well with the lotus paste's sweet undertones. I have not tried making my own mooncakes - hopefully I can learn from someone soon.

These days, there are also more contemporary mooncakes available. Some include ice-cream mooncakes, oreo, chocolate, strawberry and liquer mooncakes. It seems that nothing is ever impossible when it comes to food experimentation. I do like the snow skinned ones too. But haven't gotten a chance to eat some good ones these year. Snow skinned ones are best eaten cold.. and i think they're made using a different flour for its outer layer.

Anyway, sunday is the 'official' day where the festival begins. And somehow i don't know why, but the moon is really big and round during this time. freaky huh? well i guess maybe it's astronomy too. There's also an ancient myth that if you point your fingers at the moon, you're ears will get cut off. Haha... imagine the crap people used to believe.

Oh well... it might not have been crap to them.... as always, different cultures and races have different beliefs and legends. That's what makes our world so interesting. I love the diversity of it all. That's why I'm going to major in Sociology. Yes yes, and I'm so going to take modules under sociology of food. Ah huh... there is such thing as food sociology. okay, that's just so me, isn't it? What can I say... food is my passion after all!