Molding the Moon

An inside look at the role mooncakes play in Asian culture

Imagine slicing a golden pastry in half. Its cross section resembles a full moon, with an egg yolk suspended in sweet filling. Soon, it will be sliced further, sometimes into four, eight or even more pieces to share. The thick crust and dense filling allow the slices to hold their shape. It is often considered best when served with a strong tea.

Mooncakes, or yuèbing, are traditional small circular or square Chinese pastry-cakes. Usually mooncakes are associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival, which takes place on the 15th day of the eighth month in the lunar calendar.

Numerous stories and folktales surround the origin and history of mooncakes. According to Ling Yu, a Chinese home cook and blogger, mooncakes were first associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival in ancient China.

“The mooncake can be traced back to the Song Dynasty, where they were originally made to worship the moon god,” Yu said. “People give them to family and friends as gifts. It symbolizes family reunion.”

Another tale tells of the pastry’s importance in China’s revolutionary history. Chinese rebels used mooncakes to communicate during the Yuan Dynasty, a time when China was under Mongol rule, said Bernice Chan in an NPR podcast episode titled “The Revolutionary History of Mooncakes.” Hiding secret messages in the mooncakes helped the Chinese successfully defeat the Mongols and regain control of the country.

Beyond their rich and long history, mooncakes are known for their impossibly delicious taste. They are typically golden brown in color and stamped with an intricate design. The filling of the cake can vary greatly. The customary filling is a sweet paste, with ingredients like lotus seed, sweet bean or jujuba (date). However, they can also have a five-nut filling or even a whole salted-duck yolk in the center of the filling. With the popularity of the sweet filling, not all consumers of the mooncake are always prepared for variations.

“I remembered this one time, my mom gave me a mooncake, and I expected it to be one of the sweet-tasting ones with egg yolk that I usually eat,” said Thomas Yu, a 19-year-old mathematics sophomore at the University of Florida. “I forgot what flavor it was, but the cake was not sweet. Instead, it was rather salty. So much so that I refused to take another bite of it.”

While the experience did not ruin m o o n c a k e s for Yu, he now always checks the flavor before taking a bite. Yu is just one of the countless consumers of mooncakes. Although mooncakes originated in China, the Chinese aren’t the only ones who love mooncakes.

Ngan Kim “Kavi” Vu, a 28-yearold Vietnamese American videographer for Sweet Hut Bakery & Café, recalls that her Catholic church used to have huge celebrations of festivals and contests where you could win mooncakes. In Vietnamese, mooncakes are known as or “Banh Trung Thu.”

“The first time I won a mooncake, I remember dressing up one year in a traditional Vietnamese costume and winning third place,” Vu said. “It felt great to bring it home because I felt like I earned it with hard work.”

Due to the intricate designs on the pastry’s surface, Vu thought mooncakes would be extremely difficult to recreate at home. Thankfully, it is not as difficult as it seems. In fact, Vu discovered a three-dimensional mold that anyone could purchase online.

Vu learned more trade-secrets when she went behindthe-scenes with Sweet Hut Bakery & Café’s chef, Ka Jun Tay, also known as the “Mooncake Master.” For Vu, each piece of newfound knowledge came with a surprise.

“I expected the Mooncake Master to be an 80-year-old Chinese man, but he’s actually a 26-year-old,” Vu said. “He has been making mooncakes in a specialty shop ever since he was 18. Rather than age, it was his experience that had gained him the title of ‘Mooncake Master.’”

Many of the mooncake fillings could be purchased in Asian grocery stores in the form of a canned paste, Vu said. The duck yolks could be found prepared in the frozen aisle. “I made the mooncake several times before I got it right,” she said. “The first time I made mooncakes, it was terrible. The video tutorials were all in Chinese, and my measurements for the dough were off.”

The Mooncake Master gave her a few tips, including keeping the mooncake dough as fresh as possible and refrigerating it to make it easier to form in the mooncake mold. However, she warns against leaving the dough in the refrigerator for too long, emphasizing that leaving it overnight would force the baker to start over.

After about three or four tries, Vu finally learned the process and was able to present her beautifully made mooncakes to her friends and family just in time for the celebrations.

For many, the greatest significance of mooncakes lies in their role as a symbol of celebrations that bring together relatives, co-workers and friends.

“The round yolk in the mooncake is like a full moon,” said Minmin Jin, a realtor in Gainesville. “A crescent moon would only be part of the family. A full moon is for bringing the whole family together.”

The Mid-Autumn Festival is one celebration during which mooncakes are eaten, but they are popular during other special occasions, as well. The Lunar New Year is another example. Whenever it comes time to bring family together, the mooncake proves to be the perfect dessert.