Happy Mid-Autumn Festival with Snow Skin Mooncakes

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival everyone! I rang in this holiday by enjoying these snow skin mooncakes with my family after dinner. Unlike the traditional mooncakes which are usually baked and have fillings like lotus seed, red bean paste, egg yolk and mixed nuts; these are on-bake with a mochi-like consistency for the outer layer and mung bean durian filling (other bean pastes or custard fillings may be used - and it’s said to originate from Hong Kong)! I grew up eating both, but was more familiar with the baked kind since it’s more traditional - but it tends to be a bit more dense (for the nut kind)and too sweet for my personal preference. I like these snow skin mooncakes more since the outside is chewy and the inside filing is not so dense. Either type of mooncake can be found in a square or round shape, and with intricate patterns on top.

I’m raised Vietnamese, but of course my family traditions and cultures intertwine with other Asian countries, mainly through Chinese holidays because of the use of the Lunar calendar (my maternal grandparents are also mixed Vietnamese/Chinese) and other overlapping elements between our cultures. I not only have enjoyed embracing more of these holidays that I used to take for granted growing up, but also seeing how other Asian communities celebrate. THe holiday is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month, and marks the end of the autumn harvest. The key takeaway for this holiday if spending time with family - enjoying the moon together with mooncakes and lanterns. In Vietnam, the holiday is called Têt Trung Thu and has a focus as a “Children’s Day”. It is said in this best-known take that a man named Cuội hung onto “a magical banyan tree as it floated up to the moon. We say that if you look closely at the full moon, you can see the shadow of a man sitting under a tree. Children parade lanterns in the streets the night of Mid-autumn Festival to help light the way to earth for Cuội from the moon.

The celebration of the harvest is an important part of Tết Trung Thu, as many Vietnamese live in rural areas and work as farmers. Tết Trung Thu marks a joyous occasion when the work is finished and there’s time to spend with loved ones.” (Vietnam.Travel)

Conversely, in China there is a tale about a moon goddess named Chang’e who lives on the moon with her pet rabbit. Her husband back down on earth, displayed fruit and cake offerings to his wife; and now that offering and ritual continues where people eat fruits and moon-shaped dessert, mooncakes to worship the moon and remember the goddess Chang’e. Also known as Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival - read more about it here.

I got hungry yesterday and decided to enjoy a few bites of this snow skin mooncake from my parents after enjoying a yummy egg noodle soup dish (instead of waiting until I went to go gaze at the full moon). I still very much enjoyed the full, bright moon last night. My mom and I now want to try to make our own snow skin mooncakes, but mini sized and in different colors - which you will be amazed when you check out all the different designs, colors and flavors of these mooncakes here. I plan to watch “Over the Moon” on netflix tonight which is the story about Chang’e, and enjoy the rest of my mooncake! Do you celebrate this holiday? Do you like mooncakes? Let me know in the comments section!