The Quest for Edible Mooncakes

According to custom, one is supposed to eat the cakes under the full moon on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, which this year falls on Monday 24th September.

Often extravagantly expensive, they are about the size of a hockey puck and just as dense. Fillings range from red bean with salted egg yolks to rich meat jelly pastes – which historically would have been a rare calorie-rich treat to fill a chronically hungry belly. Nowadays, they are given as gifts to strengthen guanxi and endlessly regifted because few people want to eat them.

This is partly because a typical 6.3-ounce mooncake has about 800 calories. By contrast, a McDonald’s cheeseburger which weighs roughly the same has only 330 calories.

Last year, health officials in Taiwan warned the public to lay off the mooncakes and instead indulge in fruits and vegetables. But mooncake-haters notwithstanding, nutritionists and dietitians in Beijing doubt that health warnings will dissuade people from eating them.

35kgs of salted egg…

We try to avoid mooncake mania, but as the boxes pile up in the office this year, we went in search of lighter, tastier, alternative mooncakes. Here’s what we found:

Gloriously glad in a decadent orange chest, this is the box to go for if you really want to nong your guanxi. 7/8 of the mooncakes are traditional fare, but it’s the tiramisu one that caught our attention.

Unlike the others, this is wrapped in silvery foil, and cased in shortcrust crumbly pastry, it’s filled with a coffee, chocolate filling. It’s not as sweet as your Nonna would have made it, but it’s buttery and light. Quite delicious.

Boxes Contain: Custard Mooncake, Passion Fruit Paste & Egg Yolk Mooncake, Jasmine Tea Paste Mooncake, White Lotus Paste & Egg Yolk Mooncake, Mango Paste & Egg Yolk Mooncake, Rattan Pepper Beef Mooncake, Longan & Walnut Mooncake and Tiramisu – 418RMB for 8 cakes.

On sale until the 24th September, Tel +86 28 8359 9603 or email rc.cturz.restaurant@rizcarlton.com.

269 Shucheng Avenue, Qingyang 青羊区顺城大街269号

Vegan mooncakes were popping up in Shanghai and Beijing this year – so we’re stoked to see a plant based patisserie making them locally in Chengdu. They are delivered in cold bags, as they need to be refrigerated, and are presented in beautiful reusable brushed metal tins.

Apart from the shape, there’s nothing traditional about these mooncakes – which have are more like a Japanese mochi. As an extra bonus, they’re only 110 calories each. The chocolate was one of our standout favourites of all of the cakes we had – with a really rich centre. The durian on the other hand…

Boxes contain: Red Bean Paste Mooncake, Vegan Matcha Mooncake, Vegan Chocolate Mooncake, Vegan Dragonfruit & Raspberry Mooncake and Vegan Durian Mooncake – 79RMB for 4, 158RMB for 8.

Order through their weidian store (YE CAKE. 椰蛋糕) or through WeChat ID: yecake67765566.