Celebrating the Chinese Moon Festival

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Good Morning!

 

Celebrating the Chinese Moon Festival

(courtesy of about.com)

 

The Chinese Moon Festival is on the 15th of the 8th lunar month. It's

also known as the Mid-autumn Festival. Chinese culture is deeply

imbedded in traditional festivals. Just like Christmas and

Thanksgiving in the West, the Moon Festival is one of the most

important traditional events for the Chinese.

 

The Moon Festival is full of legendary stories. Legend says that

Chang Er flew to the moon, where she has lived ever since. You might

see her dancing on the moon during the Moon Festival. The Moon

Festival is also an occasion for family reunions. When the full moon

rises, families get together to watch the full moon, eat moon cakes,

and sing moon poems. With the full moon, the legend, the family and

the poems, you can't help thinking that this is really a perfect

world. That is why the Chinese are so fond of the Moon Festival.

 

The Moon Festival is also a romantic one. A perfect night for the

festival is if it is a quiet night without a silk of cloud and with a

little mild breeze from the sea. Lovers spend such a romatic night

together tasting the delicious moon cake with some wine while

watching the full moon. Even for a couple who can't be together, they

can still enjoy the night by watching the moon at the same time so it

seems that they are together at that hour. A great number of poetry

has been devoted to this romantic festival. Hope the Moon Festival

will bring you happiness.

 

The moon cake is the food for the Moon Festival. The Chinese eat the

moon cake at night with the full moon in the sky.

 

 

Recipe for Moon Cakes

 

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

 

Ingredients:

 

Filling:

1 pound red azuki beans

water

3/4 cup lard or oil

1-3/4 cups sugar

Water-Shortening Dough:

2 cups flour

5 tablespoons lard

10 tablespoons water

1/4 teaspoon salt

Flaky Dough:

1 cup flour

5 tablespoons lard

red food coloring for design

 

Preparation:

Filling Instructions: Soak red beans in water to cover 2 hours. Drain and

discard the water. Cover with 8 cups fresh water and bring to a boil, then

simmer over low heat 1-1/2 hours or until skins open. Strain the beans and

discard the skins. Place the strained beans in several layers of cheesecloth and

squeeze out any excess water.

Place in a saucepan with the lard or oil and the sugar. Cook, stirring

continuously, until almost all the moisture has evaporated. Let cool.

 

Dough Instructions: You will need 2 cups of filling for the mooncakes. Divide

this into 20 portions and shape into balls.Mix ingredients for the

water-shortening dough and the flaky dough separately until smooth. Divide each

dough into 20 equal portions.

Wrap one portion of flaky dough inside each portion of water-shortening dough.

Roll out each piece of dough, then fold in thirds to form three layers. Roll out

again, and once more fold in thirds to form three layers.

 

Flatten each piece of dough with the palm of your hand to form a 3 " circle.

Place one portion of filling in the center. Gather the edges to enclose the

filling and pinch to seal. Place the filled packet in the mold, gently pressing

to fit. Invert and remove the mold.

Dilute red food coloring with water and pour onto a damp paper towel on a plate.

Take some food coloring onto the cookie-design stamp, then press on top of the

mooncake.

 

Repeat process for remaining mooncakes. Arrange mooncakes on a baking sheet.

Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool before serving.

 

 

 

Andrew Pacholyk, MS, L.Ac

Peacefulmind.com

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