Traditionally, the filling is a sweet paste such as lotus seed paste or red bean paste, but it can also be made with nuts or by baking in a salty egg yolk.
You may be familiar with Cantonese-style mooncakes, which are the most popular. They are usually baked to a golden-brown color and have petal-shaped edges designed to look like a lotus flower, and they also often have intricate patterns and Chinese characters molded into the top of the crust. Taiwanese people enjoy this style of mooncake, but also make their own local version. Taiwanese mooncakes are more like shapeless balls with a whiter, flakier crust, and characters or patterns may be stamped into the pastry using food ink. The filling often includes savory ingredients.
We enjoyed the mooncakes in the traditional way, where each small cake is sliced into wedges and eaten together with friends and family. I split the three cakes I had made with some friends, and we enjoyed them together in the week leading up to the holiday.
Mooncakes are always delicious! Since both of my parents are immigrants from China, I’ve enjoyed sharing mooncakes with my family during the Mid-Autumn Festival since I was young. My favorite flavor is lotus seed paste, but this time I made red bean paste mooncakes. The crust is a thick, buttery style of pastry, and it has a rich flavor that contrasts with the earthy sweetness of the filling. I enjoy the taste of mooncakes both with and without the saltiness of a salty egg yolk.
