Today is the Mid-Autumn festival 中秋節, the second biggest Chinese festival besides the Lunar New Year. It’s on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese calendar. This day the moon is the roundest and fullest. Traditionally it represents 團圓，the day to gather with your beloved ones, family, relatives, to have dinner, enjoy the moonlight, play lanterns, etc. The mooncakes symbolize the moon. We give out and share mooncakes to enjoy this day.
Below is the mooncake recipe. I learnt from a Chinese dim-sum chef 3-4 years before (it’s popular to learn making mooncakes here recently). The ingredients are interesting. More photos are in Flickr (I used a different wrapping method in the photos than the easier one described below).
Tool: plastic mould 膠模 (Traditionally we use wooden ones 木模, but plastic ones are convenient for moulding and storage)
Ingredients (10 small mooncakes):
a) Flour 40g (This 美玫麵粉 is the popular brand for making dim sum and mooncakes, with different ash and protein than flour for making western breads)
b) Lyle’s Golden syrup 金獅糖漿 28g (don’t substitute with other brand as the acidity of the syrup will affect the result)
c) Peanut oil 13g
d) Food lye 食用鹼水 1/8 tsp
Lotus seed paste 蓮蓉 300g
Peanut oil (for lotus seed paste) 2 T
Salted duck egg yolks 鹹蛋黃 5pcs (divide into half)
Egg yolk 1pc
Steps:
1) Mix a) to d) which will be the crust. Rest for 30 minutes.
2) Divide the lotus seed paste into 10 portions. Put 1/4 tsp peanut oil in your hand. Fold the lotus seed paste in your palm. The oil will slowly be absorbed, and the lotus seed paste will soften a bit. Roll it into ball.
3) Wrap the duck egg yolk in the seed paste.
4) Sprinkle flour onto the counter. Roll the crust dough into a roll. Divide into 10 portions (9g each).
5) Sprinkle more flour on the counter. Flatten the crust dough. Big enough to wrap the seed paste with duck yolk. The dough will be very thin. Use a scraper to help taking it out.
6) Wrap the seed paste with duck yolk inside with the flattened dough.
7) Dust some flour to the plastic mould to avoid sticking. Put in the dough. Press on counter. The moulded mooncake will come out.
8 ) Bake at 180C for 6 minutes. Then take out. The mooncakes should be hardened and set. Then put on egg yolk to the patterns (no need to put on to the whole mooncake, so that the pattern will stand out).
9) Bake for an extra 7 minutes.
10) Rest the mooncakes at room temperature for at least 2 days. This is the process of 回油, where the mooncakes will absorb the oil from the lotus seed paste, and the crust will get shinier and tenderer.
