Shanghai mooncake

Shanghai mooncakes is a combination of modern shortbread like pastry filled with traditional mooncakes filling, with or without egg yolk. The pastry is similar to Taiwan pineapple tart with rich, crumbly and buttery crust. Shanghai mooncake aren’t too difficult to make at home. It may seem like an intensive process but nothing beat a lovingly made pastry that’s come fresh from the oven.

Tips: • Consume within 3 days or keep refrigerated, stay fresh for about 2 weeks in the fridge. CHINESE VERSION: 酥皮上海月饼 Shanghai Mooncake - MyKitchen101en Ingredients: • 165 g low protein flour (cake flour) • 30 g milk powder • 1/4 tsp fine salt • 80 g butter (at room temperature) • 50 g margarine • 30 g icing sugar • 40 g beaten egg • 360 g red bean paste (divide into 6 portions) • 6 salted egg yolks • to taste sunflower seeds Directions: 1 Add 2 tbsps of rose wine to egg yolks to remove unpleasant smell (optional), drain, then shanghai mooncake the egg yolks for 5 minutes.

2 Bake sunflower seeds in preheated oven at 160°C for 5 minutes. 3 Mix and sieve together low protein flour, milk powder and salt. 4 Combine butter, margarine and icing sugar, beat over medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. 5 Add in egg gradually, beat until well combined, about 2 minutes. 6 Add in sifted flour in 2 batches, mix until well combined.

7 Wrap the mooncake skin dough with cling wrap, keep refrigerated to rest for 40 minutes. 8 Add some sunflower seeds to red bean shanghai mooncake, then wrap egg yolk with the red bean paste, shape into ball. 9 Wrap the paste with mooncake skin dough. 10 Bake in preheated oven at 180°C for 20 minutes, remove from oven and brush the top with egg wash. ( For egg wash: Mix together 1 egg yolk and 1 tbsp of milk, sieve through.) 11 Bake again at 180°C for 10 minutes, until golden brown.

12 Allow the mooncakes to cool down before serving. • Recipes • Recipe Index • View all By Date • How-To • Cooking Methods • Cooking Tools • Wok Guide • Culture • Ingredients • Chinese Ingredients Glossary • Sauces, Wines, Vinegars & Oils • Spices & Seasonings • Dried, Cured & Pickled Ingredients • Noodles & Wrappers • Rice, Grains, Flours & Starches • Tofu & Bean Curd • Vegetables & Shanghai mooncake • Fresh Herbs & Aromatics • Life & Travel • Life • Travel • About Us • Contact • Work with Shanghai mooncake • Press • Send Us A Message • I won’t bore you by getting too deep into the fairytale that surrounds the Mid-Autumn Festival.

In short, it’s a forbidden love story between a girl living on the moon and a young man living on earth. Shanghai mooncake are only granted one meeting per year on September 15th of the lunar calendar.

Today, we celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival in the name of family unity and for the hope that true loves can reunite. If shanghai mooncake ever wondered why mooncakes are round, this is why. ( Update: a helpful reader pointed out to us that we got our lines tied up on the details of lovers meeting vs. not meeting; turns out that the young man mourned the loss shanghai mooncake his love to the moon for the rest of his days, and people celebrate his sacrifice by worshipping the moon spirit with cakes and other offerings…alternatively, it may also be the case that the young man in this story turned into a tyrannical king and his former lover prevented him from becoming immortal on the day of the mid-autumn festival, so people celebrate that…Can you see now why we tried to glaze over this part?

Also, for anyone who’s ever had a mother provide them with totally shanghai mooncake only semi-accurate information, this one’s for you!) Besides Chinese New Year, the Mid-Autumn Festival is an important Chinese holiday, and every region has it’s own unique approach when it comes to making the all-important moon cake.

This is a savory mooncake recipe. Savory mooncakes, or xian rou yue bing (鲜肉月饼), are filled with ground pork and prized by people in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai, the areas where I grew up. In fact, simply mentioning x ian rou yue bing will make most Shanghainese people weak in the knees! Needless to say, I’m very excited to share this recipe with you guys. If you’re thinking that there’s no point in making these from scratch, trust me, you will not find these in your neck of woods (unless you happen to live somewhere in China).

These are definitely not your typical chewy, sweet moon cakes; the uniqueness of these Shanghai savory mooncakes is in the dough or the crust. It is quite similar to pastry dough, with all that layered, flaky and crumbly goodness—plus, there’s a savory meat filling.

Sound weird? Not really! The cooking from this region tends to be on the sweeter side, so the sweet/salty filling with the pastry-like crust is a perfect combo. As the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches (this year it falls on September 27), people from my hometown of Shanghai are already lined up to secure some their favorite Xian Rou Yue Bing. To find out what all the hoopla is about, try this recipe, and let us know what you think. And just a heads up: this is a long post with a lot of step-by-step pictures.

We divided it into three segments. In this case, each segment is very quick to put together. And guess what? Shanghai mooncake fancy moon cake molds required for these savory mooncakes! Recipe Tips Before You Start: Some tips before we start! • The ground pork is best chopped by hand rather than ground up.

If you’re a true devotee to the art of making moon cakes, then cut the pork butt into small pieces and then chop it into fine bits using a quick wrist motion and a large knife or cleaver. • Both the dough and the filling can be made a day or two before and kept in the fridge until ready to assemble, bake, and eat. Wait at least one hour after taking the filling and dough out of the fridge before you start to assemble the mooncakes.

• These are ideally eaten when they are fresh. Alternatively, you can freeze them (or refrigerate them for up to 3-4 days) and reheat in the oven or toaster oven until warmed through. • And lastly…beware–just like French and American pastries, this is not for the health conscious! Ideally, you’ll make these with lard—it’ll give you the most authentic taste. But if you can’t get your hands on any or don’t know how to make it from scratch, vegetable shortening will do.

Recipe Instructions Make the meat filling: Mix and combine everything for the meat filling: ground pork, sugar, honey, Shaoxing wine, salt, light soy sauce, ginger shanghai mooncake, garlic powder, and scallion. There’s no need to stir too much or whip the mixture in any way, or the filling will turn rubbery.

Cover and set aside in the fridge. Make the soft dough: Add the flour, shanghai mooncake, and lard to a mixing bowl, and mix until thoroughly combined. Then slowly add the water in 3-4 batches and knead the dough to form a smooth dough ball. Set it aside and cover with a damp cloth.

Make sure the dough is not too dry. To test for quality, form a dough ball and press it flat. The edges should not crack. Make the pastry dough: Shanghai mooncake the flour and lard, and knead to form a dough ball. Cover with clear plastic wrap and let it sit in shanghai mooncake for 20 minutes. Assemble the mooncakes: Divide both the soft dough and the pastry dough into 24 pieces each. You should have 48 bits of dough in total.

Take the time to divide them equally and roll each into balls. We used a scale to help us out. Cover all the dough pieces with a damp paper towel to prevent them from drying out as you work. Follow the photos for each step: Take one piece of soft dough and shanghai mooncake into a small round disc. Put a piece of the pastry dough in the center of the soft dough, close to seal, and use your palms to flatten. Then roll it out into a long oval shape. Then roll it into a more uniform cigar shape.

Roll the cigar out lengthwise into a longer rope, and then roll it into a tight, short bundle. Stand the bundle up and press it flat. With a rolling pin, roll the dough bundle out into a 3½-inch disc (it should be slightly thinner around the outer edges and thicker in the middle). Add about one tablespoon (about 20 grams) of meat filling to the center of the disc… …and seal tightly.

Be careful with shanghai mooncake filling—you can’t overstuff these or they will burst open during the baking process. Now lightly press the dough to shape it into a flat moon cake shape. Place it on a baking sheet, seam side down. Now, repeat with the remaining pieces of dough and filling until you’ve used everything up. You will need two baking sheets for a total of 24 moon cakes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and position the baking rack in the middle of the oven.

Brush each cake with egg wash and sprinkle the top with sesame seeds. Once the oven is preheated, bake each pan of moon cakes for 25 minutes until the cakes start to turn golden brown. Enjoy this one and Happy Mid Shanghai mooncake Festival! For the soft dough, shanghai mooncake the flour, sugar, and lard to a mixing bowl, and mix until thoroughly combined. Then slowly add the water in 3-4 batches and knead the dough to form a smooth dough ball. Set it aside and cover with a damp cloth. Make sure the dough is not too dry.

To test for quality, form a dough ball and press it flat. The edges should not crack. • To assemble the mooncakes, divide both the soft dough and the pastry dough into 24 pieces each. You should have 48 bits of dough in total. Take shanghai mooncake time to divide them equally and roll each into balls. We used a scale to help us out. Cover shanghai mooncake the dough pieces with a damp paper towel to prevent them from drying out as you work. • Now lightly press the dough to shape it into a flat moon cake shape.

Place it on a baking sheet seam side down. Now, repeat with the remaining pieces of dough and filling until you’ve used everything up. You will need two baking sheets for a total of 24 moon cakes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and position the baking rack in the middle of the oven.

• TheWoksofLife.com is written and produced for informational purposes only. While we do our best to provide nutritional information as a general guideline to our readers, we are not certified nutritionists, and the values provided should be considered estimates.

Factors such as brands purchased, natural variations in fresh ingredients, etc. will change the nutritional information in any recipe. Various online calculators also provide different results, depending on their sources. To obtain accurate nutritional information for a recipe, use your preferred nutrition calculator to determine nutritional information with the actual ingredients and quantities used.

Judy is the mom of The Woks of Life family. Born in Shanghai, she arrived in the U.S. at age 16.

Fluent in both English and three separate Chinese dialects, she's our professional menu translator when we're eating our way through China.

Dedicated to preserving disappearing recipes and traditions, her specialty is all things traditional, from mooncakes to home-style stir-fries. Dear Judy! once again you are the answer to my questions and curiosity! this looks fabulous and i am anxious to make them. but i have a question for you. a dear friend went to Albany NY to a well known Shaihainese resto called Hu’s House and for my birthday brought me back some incredibly delicious pastries they call Flaky Pork Pastry, which upon opening I exclaimed to my friend, Mooncakes” as they were shanghai mooncake similar shape with a red chopmark on top.

determined to find a recipe, i found online a thing called Suzhou Savoury Mooncakes and a few recipes. are the XIAN ROU YUE BING the same thing as these Suzhou Mooncakes? i think of bing shanghai mooncake being more flattened. as ever, i am very grateful for the hard work and deep detail your family blog brings forth.

blessings on all of you! xie xie
Jump to Recipe Leave A Comment Shanghai Mooncakes 上海月饼 : A Mooncake With Buttery Short Crust Pastry Shanghai mooncake is characterised by its short crust pastry.

The crisp and buttery crust of the skin goes very well indeed with the oriental mooncake lotus paste fillings. They are a modern variation compared to the typical traditional mooncakes.

This special type of mooncake is perhaps a fusion of English and Chinese cuisine combining a western styled crisp biscuit like pastry with a traditional chinese mooncake filling which is soft, sweet yet salty from the egg shanghai mooncake. These Mooncakes Are So Unbelievably Easy To Make At Home! These homemade Shanghai Mooncakes are very easy to make. In fact, it is SO much easier than making the Traditional Mooncakes so this can be another option if you don’t want or don’t have the time shanghai mooncake make the traditional ones.

Just prepare the dough pastry and fillings. Then assemble them together and bake! And they taste as delicious too!

As always, ENJOY and Happy Mid-Autumn Festival everyone! First knead toasted melon and sesame seeds into the lotus seed paste till well combined. Then, form the lotus shanghai mooncake into a log and divide into 5 equal pieces, 105g each. Wrap each piece of lotus paste with one egg yolk (15g) and form into ball. You should have 5 lotus paste balls, each shanghai mooncake 120g. To assemble the mooncakes, first flatten the soft pastry dough and wrap around the lotus paste ball.

Gently push, press and squeeze the dough, holding the ball securely in your palm, until the dough skin gradually covers the lotus paste ball. Roll into a ball. Repeat this step to finish the remaining dough skin and lotus paste balls.• • It is best to serve shanghai mooncake shanghai mooncakes 2 to 3 days after they are baked to allow the skin to turn soft and oil released to the surface (not dry).• Make sure the mooncakes are cooled before applying egg wash so as to get an even colour.• Leave the mooncakes to cool completely and store in airtight container.• If the mooncakes are dry enough after baking, it can be kept up to weeks in an air-tight container.

NUTRITION Serving: 200 g · Calories: 983 kcal · Carbohydrates: 109 g · Protein: 17 g · Fat: 54 g · Saturated Fat: 27 g · Polyunsaturated Shanghai mooncake 7 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 15 g · Cholesterol: 325 mg shanghai mooncake Sodium: 235 mg · Potassium: 648 mg · Fiber: 2 g · Sugar: 45 g · Vitamin A: 1206 IU · Vitamin C: 1 mg · Calcium: 156 mg · Iron: 4 mg Hi Angie, thank you for the recipe. The mooncake tastes great. The only trouble I had was because I used a 100g mould, I used 40g of pastry dough to wrap 55g of lotus paste and 12g of salted egg yolk.

This could have potentially resulted in my mooncake skin cracking? Some had cracks across the top, some were at the sides. I also had trouble with ensuring that the yolk stayed in the centre of the lotus paste when wrapping the dough as I had trouble flattening the dough sufficiently to wrap the paste fully, and was pinching/ spreading the dough too much causing the yolk to shift.

My mooncake also looks unevenly golden with some parts pale. Does it darken over time? But, I’m eager to perfect it and would appreciate any tips/ advice you have. Thank you! Reply Hi Eva, happy to know you like these Shanghai Mooncakes. If you are using a 100g mould, make sure the dough and the paste inclusive of salted egg yolk is 100g and not more. For the cracking, possible that the temperature is too high as everyone’s oven is different. You can try 180C instead as your mooncake is smaller than mine (200g).

To have the egg yolk in the centre, first roll the mooncake paste into a round ball. Then make a depression in the centre and put in the egg yolk. Roll back into a round ball. This should do the job. This Shanghai Mooncakes can darken just a shanghai mooncake because of the margarine or butter. But it will not darken like the traditional mooncakes. Hope this helps to clarify. Thanks. Reply Cheesy Shanghai Mooncake is a favourite among many who love the buttery goodness of it’s shortcrust pastry and combined with parmesan cheese adds a lovely balance of flavours to this mooncake.

To make this yummy mooncake, click on the video tutorial and print out the recipe below. Thank you Please click image below to view Video Tutorial: Recipe Notes • If you make some mooncakes without egg yolk, use lesser dough. You could use half salted egg yolk instead of one whole egg yolk for each mooncake.

• Portions of dough could range from 35 g to 45 g depending on whether you add salted egg yolk. Paste portions could range from 38 g to 45 g. For example: Without salted egg yolk shanghai mooncake 35 g and Paste 45 g] With salted egg yolk [Dough 45 g and Paste 38 g plus Salted Egg Yolk] Choose a ratio of Dough to Filling that you are comfortable with or for the size of mooncake that you like.

• As recipe uses cheese, addition shanghai mooncake salt is optional. • You could use traditional mooncake mould for making this mooncake.If so, shanghai mooncake the mooncakes for 5 minutes and then apply egg wash so that the mooncake mould design stands out. Also do check out my Facebook Page : Shiokman for links to other recipes. Brought to you by Shiokman Eddie of ShiokmanRecipes.comShiokman Peranakan Recipes eBook contains 30 recipes in total (all with links to video tutorials)including 7 new recipes with exclusive video tutorial links (i.e.

for buyers only). Price in USD. To order, please click on this link: https://gumroad.com/l/shiokman-peranakan-recipes Click here for more info
Credit: Gerald Lee Shanghai mooncakes are one of the lesser known variations of mooncakes that I personally feel, should be made known.

It’s light, flaky, buttery pastry and the richness of the yolk inside, makes this simple variation of mooncakes the pastry of choice this Mid-Autumn Festival. The Mid-Autumn festival, or also known as “Zhongqiu Jie” traditionally marks the end of the autumn harvest which can be traced back as far as the Zhou Dynasty, the longest Chinese dynasty that reigned in the year of 1046 to 256 B.C.

The festival is a time to give thanks to the lunar deity, Chang’Er, the moon goddess of immortality. An ancient belief says that the selfless woman drank the elixir of immortality to save herself from a courtier.

Today, the Chinese community celebrates Mid-Autumn Festival by giving family, friends and colleagues mooncakes. The small but filling pastry embosses various flavours and designs depicting the legends of the moon. The mooncakes which symbolise unity, are traditionally filled with lotus seed paste or red beans together with salted yolk. It has an appeal of a peculiar flavour of its own, blending the sweetness and saltiness together. A Forgotten Regional Variation The first thing that comes to mind when we think of ‘mooncakes’ is the circular, thick cookie-like pastry with a yolk filling inside.

Little did we know that there is more to mooncakes than what has been shared with us. The Mid-Autumn Festival has a deeper meaning to the Chinese community. There are more than seven variations or styles of mooncakes created according to the different provinces in China, which reflects their respective identities and culture in the preparation of the dough as well as the filling flavour. The Shanghai style is one of the less popular mooncake style here in Malaysia and I find that surprising indeed.

Similar to French pastry, the skin of of the mooncake is layered, flaky and buttery, making shanghai mooncake one of the more refined versions of mooncakes. In conjunction with the Mid-Autumn Festival, let’s make some Shanghai mooncakes together! Ingredients: • 350g cake flour or rose flour • 60g shanghai mooncake powder • 1 teaspoon of salt • 160g butter, room temperature • 100g margarine • 70g icing sugar • 2 beaten eggs • 360g lotus paste, divide into 12 portions, 80gm each.

You can buy at any baking store or you can follow my recipe for the baked mooncakes. It can be replaced with any filling of your choice. • 12 salted egg yolks, separated, washed and steamed • Melon seeds • Egg wash, 2 egg yolks and 1 tablespoon of milk Method: • Separate the egg yolks, washed and drained.

Steam the egg yolks for 5 minutes. • Toast the melon seeds at low heat on a pan for 5 minutes. • Mix the egg yolks and sieve it. • In a bowl, add flour, milk powder and salt. • Combine the butter, margarine and icing sugar.

Beat over medium speed until light and fluffy • Add in the egg gradually, beat until well combined • Add in the flour mixture in 3 parts and mix until well combined. • Wrap the mooncake skin dough with cling wrap, keep refrigerated to rest for 60 minutes. • Add some melon seeds to lotus paste, wrap egg yolk with the shanghai mooncake, shape into ball. • Wrap the paste with mooncake skin dough and shape it into a ball. • Bake in a preheated oven at 175°C for 25 minutes.

Remove from the oven. Wait until it is cool and brush the top with some egg wash. • Bake again at 175°C for 15 minutes, until golden brown. • Wait for it to cool before serving. You may store these in the fridge for 2 weeks and re-heat in the oven for 8 minutes at 175°C before serving. The Most Underrated Mooncake I personally feel Shanghai Mooncakes make the best presents. It’s personal, delicate, very feminine in presentation and most of all, it gives us another glimpse of the rich culture and strong identities of the different Chinese provinces as well as the noble thought behind its humble appearance.

I hope you enjoy making these mooncakes and I hope you will be a little piqued and start researching about shanghai mooncake and the Mid-Autumn Festival. The Chinese culture is more than chopsticks, The Lunar New Year and fortune cookies (FYI: It’s actually an American creation). Tag and Follow Us for More Recipes! For any inquiries or even a little chat about delicious Nyonya and Chinese desserts, just slide into shanghai mooncake Instagram DM at @ justinescakesandkueh.

Don’t forget to follow me and Butterkicap for more feel-good recipes and comforting heritage food that you can try and make on your own! Related posts: • Resepi Kuih Bulan Telur Asin dan Keladi ala Teochew • A Pulut Tai Tai Recipe You’ll Keep on Making • Resepi Kandi Kelapa Aunty Margaret Gerenti Laku • Devilishly Good Devil Curry Recipe Tags: Chinese culture, Chinese sweets, mid autumn festival, mooncake, mooncake recipe, Shanghai mooncake, traditional 0 0 0 0 0 October 7, 2020
• Cities • Istanbul • Athens • Barcelona • Lisbon • Porto • Marseille • Naples • New Orleans • Tbilisi • Queens • Mexico City • Rio • Tokyo • Shanghai • Elsewhere • Topics • Advice • Best Bites • Books • Drinks • First Stop • Holidays • Ingredients • Markets • Road Trips • Seasons • Street Food • Sweets • Top 5’s • SotS • FEED • Shanghai mooncake Tours • Culinary walks • Istanbul • Athens • Barcelona • Lisbon • Porto • Naples • Marseille • Tbilisi • Queens • Mexico City • Tokyo • Shanghai • Beijing • Izmir • Trips • Projects • Queens Migrant Kitchens • Street Food Masters • The Syrian Kitchen in Exile • Urban Sketches • Our Story • Shop • Eatinerary Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节, zhōngqiūjié) lands on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, relatively near the autumnal equinox; in 2017, it falls on October 4 and coincides with the National Day holiday.

Also sometimes called Mooncake Festival, it’s a public holiday in China and Taiwan on which families gather to give offerings to the full moon, float sky lanterns and eat mooncakes (月饼, yuèbing). A culinary tradition with legendary roots, mooncakes are sold everywhere from grocery stores to five-star hotels and come with competing origin stories that relate how these sweets came to represent the holiday.

Mid-Autumn Festival was inspired by the mythical story of Chang’e, the “Lady of the Shanghai mooncake Once upon a time, the world had 10 suns, all of which lived in a mulberry bush together, and each day one sun would be drawn around the world in a carriage. But one day, all 10 suns took to the sky, and their heat destroyed the crops and set the earth on fire. To save the world, the archer Houyi shot nine of the suns down, and the emperor rewarded him with an immortality pill.

The legends differ on how Houyi’s wife, Chang’e, got the pill and consumed it, but one thing is certain: It made her fly. Houyi tried to chase her but was turned back by blustery winds. By then, Chang’e had landed on the moon, where she remains to this very day. By some trick of the gods, Houyi has found his own place in the sun, and each year on Mid-Autumn Festival, the husband and wife are reunited and the moon glows its brightest.

Offerings to the moon and Chang’e are required that day, and over time the most popular contribution became the round mooncakes that reflect the beauty of the moon. Shanghai mooncake tales of how the mooncake became associated with Mid-Autumn Festival hearken back to the days of the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368), when the Mongols ruled over the Han people.

The barbarian leaders did not like the taste of mooncakes, so the military counselor of the Han people’s army, Liu Bowen, decided to furtively communicate with the people via the little sweets.

To encourage people to eat them, he declared that the desserts held a medicine that would prevent the spread of a deadly plague. Bakers hid secret missives inside the round delicacies instructing the Chinese to overthrow the barbarians on Mid-Autumn Festival.

The uprising was a success, and the Ming Dynasty ruled the land for the next 300 years. Traditionally, the thin crust surrounds a rich filling, such as lotus-seed paste; other popular flavors include red bean paste and date paste.

The pastes can take up to two weeks to prepare, so most families purchase their mooncakes at bakeries instead of making them at shanghai mooncake. Salted egg yolks are often baked into the center of the cake to represent the moon, and mooncake molds bear each baker’s insignia. As the custom is brought into the 21st century, mooncakes are often given as gifts to family members and business shanghai mooncake, and it’s not unusual to receive many more boxes than one could possibly eat.

The custom of gifting (and regifting) sumptuous boxes of lavishly flavored mooncakes has in fact become an essential part of doing business in China, garnering comparisons to Christmas fruitcake traditions. In modern times, variations on the filling have multiplied as gifting becomes more commonplace, and international companies have gotten in on the lucrative action. Starbucks has previously released coffee and pumpkin latte varieties, and Häagen-Dazs serves ice cream options.

Five-star hotels go for extravagance, stuffing their mooncakes with abalone, shark fin, truffles or foie gras. Packaging has also become an essential aspect of the custom, with shanghai mooncake offering everything from commemorative mooncake boxes that turn into wine carrying cases to feng shui-inspired cakes that come with iPhone cases and headsets for large orders. While Mid-Autumn Festival is a time for family, it’s also an auspicious date for love, so it’s common to see couples tying the knot around the date.

Mooncakes have even become a vehicle for romance, as hopeful grooms special-order shanghai mooncake stuffed with a diamond ring and occasionally pure gold.

But be warned, these tiny sweets pack a hefty punch, with 800 calories per cake on average, making them one of shanghai mooncake densest foods Chinese people consume.

Recent trends have seen shops churning out low-sugar (or even no-sugar) mooncakes, but moderation is advised. Pairing them with bitter teas, like pu’er, is thought to help cut the sugar and oil. Or you can just try the time-honored diet trick of sharing. Families used to slice them into eight pieces to divide up the luck (and the calories) in the days before mooncake trading became an autumn pastime to grease palms and improve guanxi Where to buy mooncakes in Shanghai: Xing Hua Lou – 杏花楼 With almost a century of mooncake-making under their belts, Xing Hua Lou’s many locations are Shanghai’s top destinations during Mid-Autumn Festival.

They’re so popular that scalpers sit outside the branches hawking counterfeit boxes bearing the store logo. This Cantonese restaurant originally opened in 1851 but didn’t start baking the holiday sweets until 1928. The menu has evolved into 20 flavors over the years, including the old standby: sweet lotus paste. Zhen Lao Da Fang – 真老大房 One of Shanghai’s most famous pastry shops, Zhen Lao Da Fang has been serving Suzhou-style pork-stuffed pastries since 1899. The puffed buns have no shanghai mooncake baker’s logo molded into the dough (merely a red stamp added later with food coloring) and sell for less than RMB 5 per cake, but they are a shanghai mooncake to reckon with all the same.

Just check out the line down the block as the weather starts to cool. The Shanghainese know these savory sweets are best eaten hot! Godly Vegetarian Better known by locals as 功德林 or Gōngdélín, Godly Vegetarian shanghai mooncake a chain of Buddhist restaurants that serves up meat-free (and meat-imitation) products. During Mid-Autumn Festival, their mooncakes are favored for their light flavors. Try passion fruit, black sesame or rose. Strictly Cookies Getting into the spirit of the holidays while also staying true to its name, Strictly Cookies is offering mooncake-cookies, or “mookies,” available for delivery or at their brick-and-mortar shop.

Presented by the dozen in a red box, the six mouthwatering shanghai mooncake include chocolate chip stuffed with a brownie, peanut butter with raspberry jam and purple potato with white chocolate. In a nod to tradition, they’ve also got a plain sugar cookie piped with red bean paste – a delicious primer for anyone looking to explore the local bean-heavy dessert scene.

Where to buy mooncakes in Beijing: Bai Nian Yi Li – 百年义利 This Beijing ‘time-honored brand’ (老字号）has been bringing baked goods and snacks to local residents since 1906. They do a brisk shanghai mooncake this time of year, but specialize mostly in fresh mooncakes as opposed to individually wrapped cakes or those presented in fancy gift boxes – perfect for grabbing a few to eat right away. Dao Xiang Cun Most Beijingers contend that this local bakery, established in 1895 and now with hundreds of locations, is the most famous one in the city.

Stop in for a wide variety of sweets, but especially if you want to mix and match shanghai mooncake individually wrapped mooncakes. Editor’s note: This feature was originally published on September 14, 2012. • September 1, 2014 Mid-Autumn Mooncakes (0) Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节, zhōngqiūjié) lands on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, […] Posted in Shanghai • September 16, 2013 Assessing the State of the Mooncake (0) Shanghai’s hottest summer on record is officially behind us, which can mean only one […] Posted in Shanghai • September 14, 2012 Mid-Autumn Mooncakes (0) Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节, zhōngqiūjié) lands on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar […] Posted in Shanghai ShanghaiMid-Autumn Festival (中秋节, zhōngqiūjié) lands on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, relatively near the autumnal equinox; in 2014, it falls on September 5.

Also sometimes called Mooncake Festival, it is a public holiday in China and Taiwan on which families gather to give offerings to the full moon, float sky lanterns and eat… ShanghaiShanghai’s hottest summer on record is officially behind us, which can mean only one thing: Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner.

Zhōngqiū jié (中秋节) is that memorable time of year when Chinese people gift (and regift) bite-sized treats known as mooncakes (月饼, yuèbǐng). Last year, we wrote about the legend behind these treats, as… ShanghaiMid-Autumn Festival (中秋节, zhōngqiūjié) lands on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, relatively near the autumnal equinox; in 2012, it falls on September 30. Also sometimes called Mooncake Shanghai mooncake, it is a public holiday in China and Taiwan on which families gather to give offerings to the full moon, float sky lanterns and…I made some Low Sugar Yam/Taro Paste for mooncakes.

I couldn't decide whether to make Spiral Yam Mooncake or Shanghai Mooncake. Shanghai Mooncake looks a lot easier so I thought I'd better to start with something easy first. To be honest, I never expected the mooncake to be this yummy. Maybe I just love yam and shanghai mooncake the buttery crust. • Salted Egg Yolks: • Crack the eggs and remove the yolks. Dip each yolk into a small bowl of Chinese Rice Wine to remove any smell.

Place the yolks on a steaming tray. Steam for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Set aside to cool. • Skin Dough: • Sift flour and custard powder. Stir in salt. Set aside. • Beat butter and sugar for around 3 minutes or till fluffy and pale at shanghai mooncake speed.

• Add in whisked egg and continue beat to well combine for another minute at medium speed. • Add in the sifted flour mixture in 3 - 4 batches and shanghai mooncake combine to form a dough. • Wrap shanghai mooncake cling film and chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes. • Preparing the filling (53g each): • Weight yam paste for about 41g - 43g.

Each shanghai mooncake is about 10 - 12g. Total weight of the filling is around 53g for each mooncake. • Shape taro/yam paste into a ball, fill the centre with an egg yolk.

Wrap the egg yolk with yam paste. Press gently to get a firm ball. • Shaping: • Remove skin dough from the fridge. Cut into 10 equal portion (about 55g each). Please use a kitchen scale if you want to be exact. • Shape each dough into a ball. • Roll a ball of skin dough out with your palm or rolling pin. • Place a ball of filling in the centre, wrap around the filling and carefully push the folds to seal, shape into a ball. Place on the prepared baking tray.

• Baking: • Preheat the oven to about 180C (top and bottom heat) 15 minutes prior to baking. • Bake in preheated oven at 180C for 10 minutes. • Remove from the oven and let them cool for 5 - 10 minutes. • Brush with egg wash and decorate with melon seeds or any seeds at your choice. • Return mooncakes to the oven and bake for another 10 - 15 minutes or until golden brown. • Leave aside to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
Shanghai mooncake is characterised by its short crust pastry.

The crisp and buttery crust of the skin goes very well indeed with the oriental mooncake lotus paste fillings. A modern variation compared to the typical traditional mooncakes: these mooncakes combine a western style crisp biscuit like pastry with a traditional chinese filling which is soft, sweet yet salty from the egg yolks.

Shanghai mooncake is characterised by its short crust pastry. The crisp and buttery crust of the skin goes very well indeed with the oriental mooncake lotus paste fillings.

A modern variation compared to the typical traditional mooncakes: these mooncakes combine a western style crisp biscuit like pastry with a traditional chinese filling which is soft, sweet yet salty from the egg yolks.