Oh dear, 365 days ++ has passed since my last posting! I blame it on life...work...family...and umm, laziness, yeah definitely, laziness is pretty high on the blame list. *sheepish grin*
Anyways, today is Mid-Autumn Festival day according to the chinese lunar calendar. It is also known as Moon Cake Festival in Malaysia, so named after the ubiquitous round-shaped baked cakes or pastries usually filled with lotus seed paste.
There are a few folk legends connected to moon cakes, 1 legend is about a pair of separated lovers who only get to meet once a year on this day. She lives on the moon with a white rabbit for company while he lives on earth. And how do they actually meet-up today? Ermm...I think by meeting halfway on a bridge made-up of moonlight or something similar.
Another legend has it that the moon cakes were created during a war in ancient China and were used to hide written messages within. These message-laden cakes were then passed on to allies in the guise of gifts without arousing suspicion or detection by enemies.
Growing up, I remember my siblings and I celebrating this festival after dinner by arranging lighted candles in a row on our brick fence and putting 1 in our mail box. We also put lighted candles into colourful paper lanterns and hang it on the mango tree. The soft warm glow of the lighted candles and paper lanterns were a lovely sight against the full moon backdrop in the night sky.
Mom would then offer some prayers and burn joss sticks and papers after which we will partake of mooncakes, piggie biscuits/cartoon biscuits (made from leftover dough of mooncake and shaped into pigs, fish, flowers or whatever one fancied!), steamed small chinese yams, steamed black nuts called 'ling kok' (cantonese)(these nuts are shaped like bull horns) and roasted peanuts. All these were enjoyed with copious amounts of fragrant jasmine tea! Hmmm....
Nowadays, the paper lanterns have largely been replaced by newer designs using diverse materials including plastic and inflatable figures depicting popular cartoon characters, robots and even current 'IT' singer Psy! These can be lighted by candles or are battery operated with some having built-in music when switched on.
The shape, size, colour, skin texture and type, flavour, and fillings of modern moon cakes also comes in many choices ranging from jelly to unbaked (snow) to charcoal skins; green tea to tiramisu to screwpine leave flavours; and mixed nuts/meats to red bean paste with duck egg yolk to ice-cream fillings! The choices available really boggles the mind and what is more, the numerous local pastry shops come up with new flavours and filings EVERY YEAR! Arghhh, certainly too many choices may not be a good thing afterall. Do google 'moon cake images' and see what comes up.
 |
| Credit: en.wikipedia.org |
The moon cakes are usually packed into beautiful boxes and over the years, these boxes had evolved from simple colour paper with clear plastic wrapping to metal boxes, then wooden boxes and currently thick paper boxes.
And my favourite mooncake is?? Haha, NONE! I am the odd 1 out among family and friends. My favourite food of the festival has always been the delicious piggie/cartoon biscuits!!
 |
| Our dessert tonight! Yums |
Below are 2 photos of cute piggie biscuits! The left photo with pink plastic basket/net is how traditionally the biscuits are packed minus the clear plastic wrapping that is. It is quite difficult to find such packaging now. The right photo is a modern interpretation of the piggie biscuits 3D version. I have not come across these yet, only the 2D ones. The eyes are a type of seed/nut or maybe black bean. I only remember they are too hard to bite!
| Credit: anncoojournal.com |
| Credit: foodonfoot.blogspot.com |
We did not get a clear sky tonight, the moon was hiding behind clouds. Nevertheless, my children and I had a grand time parading our lanterns tonight!
Happy Moon Cake Festival to all !! (Ha, the term 'Moon Cake Festival' is pretty apt in hot tropical Malaysia rather than 'Mid-Autumn Festival' don't you think?)