Lunar worshippers, bite into your mooncake, chew, then repeat after me: “中秋节快乐!” (Zhōngqiū kuàilè)!

Oh, wait. Maybe you don’t have a Chinese calendar at home or a box of mooncakes on your table, and maybe you are blissfully unaware that today is 中秋节, “Zhōngqiūjie,” the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Let me explain.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a Chinese (and Vietnamese) festival. It’s much less famous than “Chinese New Year,” but nonetheless, it’s a major holiday. It is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar (within 15 days of the autumnal equinox), on the night of the full moon between early September to early October. Basically, it’s today, September 15… and now you understand why we need Chinese calendars to keep track of holidays that never fall on the exact same day every year!

This harvest festival is a bit like Thanksgiving, and it celebrates gathering (the round moon symbolizes family reunion) and giving thanks for the rice and wheat harvests. Traditionally, you’re supposed to watch the moon, burn incense and perform the dragon and lion dances.

And of course, you’re supposed to offer (and eat) a shitload of mooncakes. The delicacy is so indispensable to the holiday that the “Mid-Autumn Festival” is sometimes referred to as the “Mooncake Festival.”

So, what are mooncakes?

Typical mooncakes are round pastries, measuring about 10 cm in diameter and 3–4 cm thick (Canadians can picture a hockey puck). Under a 3 mm crust, there is a thick filling usually made from red bean or lotus seed paste. There is often a yolk from salted duck eggs at the centre of the cake, symbolizing the full moon. Traditional mooncakes have an imprint on top, usually the Chinese characters for “longevity” or “harmony,” as well as the name of the bakery and the type of filling inside.

The energy content is high and the pastry is extremely dense, so mooncakes are usually cut in small wedges. Plastic toothpicks are usually provided in a typical four-mooncake box in order to share them easily with friends and family members.

Unlike dumplings or zongzi (sticky rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves), mooncakes are not a delicacy made at home. You’re supposed to buy mooncakes, not bake them. Indeed, they are a very high-volume item exchanged between family members, friends, relatives and even employers and employees—a typical Chinese household can receive more mooncakes boxes than it can eat, no need to slave in the kitchen to bake treats. Also, many Chinese will admit they don’t particularly like the taste of mooncakes, and sharing just one is often enough for many families. Mooncakes are a popular gift item that is not sought after as a culinary delight—in this particular case, the box and wrapping are nicer than the treat inside.

Weeks before the festival, Chinese supermarkets display piles of mooncakes in their trademark gold and red tins. A typical box contains four individually wrapped mooncakes (so that it remains moist) and prices range from $10 to $60 and up (the average price in Ottawa seems to be between $20-$30).

I have to be honest: I don’t like mooncakes. I find the “Cantonese” version we get in Ottawa too dense, too sweet, too chewy. It’s basically a thick layer of dough enclosing a giant, greasy, block of filling made with tons of sugar and lard. I like red bean paste as a filling (used in many Chinese pastries) but the yolk is just too much. As for the dough, it’s so damn pasty. It feels like eating a sweetened chunk of solidified oil that makes kouign-aman, the traditional Breton cake made with layers of butter and sugar butter, feels light.

New variations of mooncakes are coming out, with fruity flavours, lighter textures (jelly, glutinous rice crust, etc.) and interesting twists, but they are mostly sold in China where the yearly treat is a massive industry. Meanwhile, traditional Cantonese mooncakes are still the most widely available kind in Canada. This is too bad, I find Beijing-style mooncakes tastier: they are made with a flaky white dough a bit similar to the dough (pâte feuilletée) used for chaussons aux pommes in France.

On the plus side, the tin the mooncakes come in is very nice. At home, we use them for storage!

Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节), September 15, 2016
Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节), September 15, 2016
Boxes of mooncakes at the Chinese supermarket in Chinatown, Ottawa
Boxes of mooncakes at the Chinese supermarket in Chinatown, Ottawa
Boxes of mooncakes at the Chinese supermarket in Chinatown, Ottawa
Boxes of mooncakes at the Chinese supermarket in Chinatown, Ottawa
Boxes of mooncakes at the Chinese supermarket in Chinatown, Ottawa
Boxes of mooncakes at the Chinese supermarket in Chinatown, Ottawa
Advertising posters for mooncakes at the Chinese supermarket in Chinatown, Ottawa
Advertising posters for mooncakes at the Chinese supermarket in Chinatown, Ottawa
Advertising posters for mooncakes at the Chinese supermarket in Chinatown, Ottawa
Advertising posters for mooncakes at the Chinese supermarket in Chinatown, Ottawa
Our box of mooncakes
Our box of mooncakes
Our box of mooncakes
Our box of mooncakes
Our box of mooncakes
A mooncake
Mark pretends he is crying holding a mooncake
Mark pretends he is crying holding a mooncake
Mark pretends he is a monster holding a mooncake
Mark pretends he is a monster holding a mooncake
Mark pretends he just ate a mooncake
Mark pretends he just ate a mooncake
Close up of a mooncake
Close up of a mooncake
Close up of a mooncake
Close up of a mooncake
And this is what mooncake boxes are used for after... storage!
And this is what mooncake boxes are used for after… storage!
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21 Comments

  1. Lexie September 15, 2016 at 1:18 pm

    Est-ce que c’est bon, en vrai?

    Reply
    1. Zhu September 15, 2016 at 7:50 pm

      Ben… non 😆 Comme je le dis dans l’article, c’est pas bizarre ni dégueu, mais très gras et un peu étouffe-chrétien. Pas une pâtisserie fine, quoi!

      Reply
      1. Martin Penwald September 16, 2016 at 9:29 pm

        Étouffe-chrétien. Mon côté anti-clérical adore ce mot. Mon côté gros connard aussi.

        Reply
        1. Zhu September 16, 2016 at 10:47 pm

          Pareil ici. J’adore ce mot 🙂

          Reply
          1. Lexie September 19, 2016 at 12:22 pm

            Lol! Mouais je vais passer mon tour alors 😉 Est-ce que Feng aime?

          2. Zhu September 19, 2016 at 2:24 pm

            Une fois par an, je crois que oui, ça va. Mais, pas son gâteau préféré, je pense!

  2. Holly September 15, 2016 at 1:49 pm

    Awesome. I wonder if I can still get a mooncake after today, just to try?

    Reply
    1. Zhu September 15, 2016 at 7:51 pm

      Most definitely! These are shelf-stable pastries, I’m sure the boxes will be on sale tomorrow 😉

      Reply
  3. kiky September 16, 2016 at 11:32 am

    i often got this cake from my Indonesian-chinese friends during Lunar New year. nowdays they came with various size and flavor

    Reply
    1. Zhu September 16, 2016 at 7:10 pm

      Do you like the taste, in general?

      Reply
      1. kiky September 17, 2016 at 12:27 am

        too sweet :))

        Reply
  4. Frenchie au Canada September 16, 2016 at 1:54 pm

    Sadly there are no Chinese supermarket around here 🙁 Not that you made me want to try a moon cake but I would love to be able to find some other stuff 🙂
    Love the photos of Mark, he’s too funny

    Reply
    1. Zhu September 16, 2016 at 7:11 pm

      Mmmm… Loblaws may have them, if you have a Chinese community around. Sucks there is no Chinatown nearby!

      Reply
      1. Frenchie au Canada September 20, 2016 at 11:37 am

        No loblaws either! Vancouver is a bit far, but they have some amazing Asian food there

        Reply
        1. Zhu September 20, 2016 at 6:02 pm

          I’d love to see Vancouver’s Chinatown one day 🙂

          What are your local supermarket chains?

          Reply
  5. I Say Oui September 16, 2016 at 8:56 pm

    Happy Moon Festival! I like them, but without egg.

    Reply
    1. Zhu September 16, 2016 at 10:46 pm

      I agree, the egg looks good but it’s… too much.

      Reply
  6. Gagan September 20, 2016 at 1:32 pm

    I had a bite of one of these about a month ago, it is really loaded stuff. I felt like the stuff had settled in and I was full right away 🙂

    Reply
    1. Zhu September 20, 2016 at 2:28 pm

      “Loaded” is the right word!

      Reply

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