Mooncake recipe

The Mid-Autumn festival—the biggest Chinese traditional holiday after the Chinese New Year—is celebrated with stories and mooncakes. Rhonda Parkinson is a freelance writer who has authored many cookbooks, including two Everything guides to Chinese cooking. Several legends revolve around the Mid-Autumn Festival. This legend mooncake recipe back to ancient times, to a day when 10 suns appeared at once in the sky.

The Emperor ordered a famous archer to shoot down the nine extra suns. According to another legend, on this day the “Man in the Moon” was spotted at an inn, carrying a writing tablet. When questioned, he said he was recording the names of all the happy couples who were fated to marry and live happily forever after. Of course, the most famous legend surrounding the Moon festival concerns its possible role in Chinese history. Overrun by the Mongols in the thirteenth century, the Chinese threw off their oppressors in 1368 CE. It is said that mooncakes—which the Mongols did not eat—were the perfect vehicle for hiding and passing along plans for the rebellion.

While baked goods are a common feature at most Chinese celebrations, mooncakes are inextricably linked with the Moon Festival. One type of traditional mooncake is filled with lotus seed paste. Roughly the size of a human palm, these mooncakes are quite filling, meant to be cut diagonally in quarters and passed around. This explains their rather steep price.