Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the most important festivals in Chinese calendar. The festival typically involves family getting together to share mooncakes while watching the moon. Typical Chinese mooncakes are round in shape, and measure around 10 cm in diameter and 4-5 cm in thickness. Most mooncakes consist of a thin tender skin enveloping a sweet, dense filling.
. It is a custom for housewives to prepare mooncakes at home when the festival is approaching. Now let's learn to make traditional Chinese mooncakes.
Above all, full preparations should be made, including materials such as dough (生面团), flour, water, sugar and vegetable oil, and fillings—lotus seed paste (莲子蓉) and eggs.
Mix together all the materials to get a dough.
Next, separate the egg yolks from the whites and salt the steamed yolks. While the oven is preheating to 180 degrees Celsius, roll the lotus paste and the dough into small balls. .
Then, shape up with each consisting of a dough wrapper, one ball of lotus paste, and one half of a salted egg yolk. Make a hole in a ball of lotus and put the yolk inside. Similarly, cover the lotus ball (with the yolk inside) with a wrapper. . Then shape it with the mold (模具).
. Take them out after 5 minutes and brush them with the egg wash. Put the mooncakes back until they become golden brown.
Remember to wait to eat the mooncakes for two days when they will be soft and also look shiny.
A. A mooncake ball is made.
B. Prepare the salted egg yolks.
C. Finally, put all mooncakes into the oven.
D. Flatten each piece of dough into a thin wrapper.
E. There're many stories about mooncakes and Chang'e.
F. Mooncakes are the must-eat food for the Mid-Autumn Festival.
G. Covered with plastic wrap, it should be set aside for at least 3 hours.