Yuebing: A Quick Guide to Mooncakes
The end of this week sees China’s second biggest traditional festival. 中秋节 Zhōngqiū Jié, or in English, Middle Autumn Festival. You may also hear it referred to as Moon, or mooncake Festival. Veneration of the moon goes back a long way in Chinese history, with offerings of food, fruits and wine on household altars, moon appreciation rituals, and of course, moon cakes (月饼 yuèbing). It is of course this foody aspect of the festival that has truly gone global in the 21st century.
Posted in Culture and tagged cakes, china, Chinese, cuisine, dessert, food, history, mid-autumn festival, moon cakes, Moon Festival
Moon Cakes
Tiny sticky cakes with a salted egg yolk in the middle. Sounds tasty, no?
One baked lotus seed paste mooncake with one egg yolk weighs about 180 g, has 790 calories, and contains 45 g of fat, so they taste good, but aren’t so good for your figure, unless you want to end up looking like the autumn moon!
Posted in Culture and tagged china, Chinese, culture, festival, food, mid-autumn festival, moon cake, Moon Festival, tradition