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Cantonese mooncakes are a type of traditional Chinese pastry that is notably enjoyed during the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is a significant festival in many Asian countries. These mooncakes are distinctive with their tender, thin, and slightly browned crust and are usually filled with sweet, dense fillings.
The most common filling in Cantonese mooncakes is lotus seed paste, which is smooth and sweet, and usually contains salted egg yolks, representing the full moon and offering a savory contrast to the sweet filling. Another distinctive feature is their appearance: the top of the mooncake is typically embossed with Chinese characters indicating the type of filling, the name of the bakery, and additional decorative motifs.
An ancient Chinese delicacy eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Festival, known as mooncake, is a pie-like pastry made with a shortcrust base called yueh ping that is traditionally filled with black sesame seed or lotus seed paste, along with red beans, roasted pork, mung beans, dates, and salted duck egg yolks.
Nowadays, mooncakes are available in a variety of different sweet and savory fillings, some of which are fruits like honeydew, litchi or pineapple; chocolate or mixed nuts; abalone and seaweed; green tea, and even cream cheese or ice cream. Their round shape is not only reminiscent of the moon, but also a symbol of return or a full circle, which in Chinese philosophy stands for fulfillment, oneness, perfection, and unity.
VARIATIONS OF Yuebing
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Cream bun belongs to a group of traditional Chinese buns hailing from Hong Kong. Like most other varieties of Chinese sweet buns, this one also consists of a soft and fluffy yeast dough that’s typically made with a combination of bread flour, yeast, eggs, condensed milk, unsalted butter, tangzhong (a mixture of bread flour and water), custard powder, milk powder, salt, and sugar.
This classic bun can be recognized by its elongated elliptical shape; the nice, golden surface resulting from the use of egg wash, and the characteristic split down the middle. After baking, the sweet buns are usually cut open, brushed with sugar glaze, covered with shredded coconut, and filled with cream.
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Snow skin mooncake is a Chinese dessert with origins in Hong Kong. It is a non-baked mooncake, characterized by its crust, which looks snow white in color, and is prepared with frozen glutinous rice. However, some cooks like to add colorful juices to the crust, changing the dessert's original appearance.
The interior is filled with numerous ingredients which can be either sweet or savory, such as duck egg yolks, carrots, strawberries, and dragonfruit. Snow skin mooncake is traditionally prepared and consumed during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and it is recommended to serve it cold and as fresh as possible.
Although some may think this Chinese delicacy is a fruit, it is actually a white pastry bun with a reddish tip, visually mimicking the shape of a peach. It can be stuffed with either red bean paste, lotus paste, or custard. Longevity peaches are commonly found at Chinese birthday parties and banquets due to the fact that peaches have been a sacred item for the Chinese people for a long time.
More specifically, the dish represents a celestial peach that ripens once every few thousand years, and the legend says that those who consume it will achieve immortality. It can also be found at most Chinese pastry shops, supermarkets, and food stalls, arranged into impressive displays.
Nuomici is a ball-shaped pastry made with glutinous rice flour. Most commonly, it is rolled in desiccated coconut. Its interior is often filled with ingredients such as sugar, peanuts, azuki bean paste, and black sesame seed paste. The dessert is quite popular in China (especially in the Guangdong province) and Hong Kong.
Nuomici is very similar to the Japanese mochi, but the dough in nuomici is steamed instead of boiled, resulting in a texture that is much softer than mochi's. This sweet treat can be found in numerous bakeries throughout Hong Kong, due to it being one of the most popular pastry varieties.
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