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Storytime Tapestry Newsletter
The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural
awareness throughout the world.
Welcome to Fascinating Facts and Tantalizing Trivia
A Hartson Dowd Column
Oct
6, 2006
Chinese
Moon Festival [ Oct 6 ]
The moon festival is a different
way to celebrate the Mid-Autumn harvest moon.
The Moon festival
(also called the Mooncake or Mid-Autumn festival) falls on October 6 in the
year 2006. What is the Moon festival? Every year on the fifteenth day of the
eighth month of the lunar calendar, when the moon is at its maximum brightness
for the entire year, the Chinese celebrate "zhong qiu jie." Children
are told the story of the moon fairy living in a crystal palace, who comes out
to dance on the moon's shadowed surface. The legend surrounding the "lady
living in the moon" dates back to ancient times, to a day when ten suns
appeared at once in the sky. The Emperor ordered a famous archer to shoot down
the nine extra suns. Once the task was accomplished, Goddess of Western Heaven
rewarded the archer with a pill that would make him immortal. However, his wife
found the pill, took it, and was banished to the moon as a result.
Legend says that her
beauty is greatest on the day of the Moon festival.
According to another legend, on this day the "Man in the Moon" was
spotted at an inn, carrying a writing tablet. When questioned, he said he was
recording the names of all the happy couples who were fated to marry and live
happily forever after. Accordingly, just as June is the traditional month for
exchanging nuptials in the west, many Chinese weddings are held during the
eighth lunar month, with the fifteenth day being the most popular.
Of course, the most famous legend surrounding the Moon festival concerns its
possible role in Chinese history. Overrun by the Mongols in the thirteenth
century, the Chinese threw off their oppressors in 1368 AD. It is said that
mooncakes - which the Mongols did not eat - were the perfect vehicle for hiding
and passing along plans for the rebellion. Families were instructed not to eat
the mooncakes until the day of the moon festival, which is when the rebellion
took place. (In another version plans were passed along in mooncakes over
several years of Mid-Autumn festivals, but the basic idea is the same).
Today, Chinese people celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival with dances, feasting
and moon gazing. Not to mention mooncakes. While baked goods are a common
feature at most Chinese celebrations, mooncakes are inextricably linked with
the Moon festival. One traditional mooncake is filled with lotus seed paste and
quite distinctive in appearance (see top photo). Roughly the size of a human
palm, these mooncakes are quite filling, meant to be cut diagonally in quarters
and passed around. This explains their rather steep price (around $5.00 in Canada). A word of caution: the salty yolk in the
middle, representing the full moon, is an acquired taste.
More elaborate versions of mooncakes contain four egg yolks (representing the
four phases of the moon). Besides lotus seed paste, other traditional fillings
include red bean paste and black bean paste. Unfortunately for dieters,
mooncakes are rather high in calories.
While in the past mooncakes took up to four weeks to make, automation has
speeded up the process considerably. Today, mooncakes may be filled with
everything from dates, nuts, and fruit to Chinese sausages. More exotic
creations include green tea mooncakes, and ping pei or snowskin mooncakes, a Southeast Asian
variation made with cooked glutinous rice flour. Haagen-Daz has even gotten
into the act by introducing a line of ice cream mooncakes in Asian markets.
Given the difficulty of making them, most people prefer to purchase their
mooncakes instead of making them. You'll find them at Asian bakeries beginning
around mid-August. Meanwhile, for those with a culinary bent, here is a recipe.
Mid-Autumn
Moon Cake Recipes
By Yan Can Cook, Inc
Makes 2 dozen
1 can (17-1/2 ounces) lotus seed paste
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
Dough
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2-cup non-fat dried milk powder
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup sugar 1/2 cup solid shortening, melted and cooled
1 egg yolk , lightly beaten
1. Mix lotus seed paste and walnuts together in a bowl; set aside.
2. Sift flour, milk powder, baking powder, and salt together into a bowl. In
large bowl of electric mixer, beat eggs on medium speed until light and lemon
colored. Add sugar; beat for 10 minutes or until mixture falls in a thick
ribbon. Add melted shortening; mix lightly. With a spatula, fold in flour
mixture. Turn dough out on a lightly floured board; knead for 1 minute or until
smooth and satiny. Divide dough in half; roll each half into a log. Cut each
log into 12 equal pieces.
3. To shape each moon cake, roll a piece of dough into a ball. Roll out on a
lightly floured board to make a 4-inch circle about 1/8-inch thick. Place 1
tablespoon of lotus seed paste mixture in center of dough circle. Fold in sides
of dough to completely enclose filling; press edges to seal. Lightly flour
inside of moon cake press with 2-1/2 inch diameter cups. Place moon cake, seam
side up, in mold; flatten dough to conform to shape of mold. Bang one end of
mold lightly on work surface to dislodge moon cake. Place cake on ungreased
baking sheet. Repeat to shape remaining cakes. Brush tops with egg yolk.
4. Bake in a preheated 375 degree F. oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Transfer to a rack and let cool.
Copyright Yan Can Cook, Inc. 1991.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the two most
important holidays in the Chinese calendar (the other being the Chinese Lunar
New Year), and is a legal holiday in several countries. Farmers celebrate the
end of the summer harvesting season on this date. Traditionally, on this day,
Chinese family members and friends will gather to admire the bright mid-autumn
harvest moon, and eat moon cakes and pomeloes together. It is also common to
have barbecues outside under the moon, and to put pomelo rinds on one's head.
Brightly lit lanterns are often carried around by children. Together with the
celebration, there appear some special customs in different parts of the
country, such as burning incense, planting sweet-olive trees, lighting lanterns
on towers, and fire dragon dances. Shops selling mooncakes, before the
festival, often display pictures of Chang'e, floating to the moon.
Hartson Sager Dowd
hsdowd@telus.net
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