As a Chinese immigrant, I always buy mooncakes from the Chinese Bakery in Chinatown to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with my family every year. However, this year I won’t need to, as I found out that my distant aunt is making them herself. (Her recipe is featured at the end of this article!)
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a very important traditional holiday in Chinese communities. It is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, which usually falls between early September and early October in the Gregorian calendar. The festival is called “Mid-Autumn Festival” because the eighth lunar month is the middle month of autumn (which includes the seventh, eighth, and ninth months), and the 15th day is the middle of the month, marking the midpoint of autumn.
As is well-known, the lunar calendar is based on the moon’s orbit around the Earth, so the 15th day of the lunar month is the day of the full moon. On this day, the moon is not obstructed by the sun and appears particularly round and bright from Earth. As a result, people have developed the tradition of family reunions and moon-gazing on the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Every year during the Mid-Autumn Festival, people return home to have meals and reunite with family. They also make offerings to ancestors and deities and eat specific foods, many of which are associated with the moon and the concept of reunion. The most iconic food is the mooncake. Originally, mooncakes were offerings to the moon goddess in ancient times, but they later became symbols of reunion. Today, eating mooncakes has become an essential custom for celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Mooncakes have continued to evolve over time, now available in a wide range of flavors and styles. While traditional fillings like lotus seed paste and red bean paste remain popular, modern variations such as green tea and fruit have emerged. In recent years, snow skin mooncakes (also known as icy mooncakes) have gained particular popularity among younger generations.
Although many Chinese bakeries produce and sell mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival, many families still prefer making them at home. My aunt, Bing Fan, is one of those who continue this tradition. She has always made her own mooncakes to share with family and friends. Today, I visited her at her home in Coney Island, Brooklyn, to document the process of her mooncake-making.
The process of making mooncakes can generally be divided into four main steps: preparing the filling, making the dough for the outer skin, combining the filling and dough into shape, and baking. I made a short video of the process. Let’s check it out.
Finally, I’ll be sharing my aunt’s homemade mooncake recipe.
Traditional Egg Yolk Mooncakes (Lotus seed, red bean and pineapple flavors)
Ingredients (for 18 mooncakes and the 100g mooncake mold):
- 18 cured salted eggs
- 300g golden syrup
- 7g lye water
- 100g cooking oil
- 450g all-purpose flour
- Yolk wash (beaten egg yolk for brushing)
- 450g lotus seed paste
- 450g red bean paste
- 450g pineapple paste
- Toasted glutinous rice flour (for dusting)
Prepare the Filling
- Bake the salted egg yolks:
- Separate the yolks from the cured salted eggs and place them on a baking tray.
- Lightly sprinkle water over the yolks.
- Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 10 minutes until they are firm and cooked through.
- Let the yolks cool to room temperature.
- Wrap the yolks with paste:
- Weigh one salted egg yolk, then add lotus seed paste, red bean paste, or pineapple paste until the total weight reaches 60g.
- Form the paste into a bowl shape around the yolk, wrap it securely, and seal tightly.
Make the dough
- In a bowl, mix together 300g golden syrup, 7g lye water, and 100g cooking oil until well combined.
- Gradually add 450g all-purpose flour and mix with a spatula until a dough forms.
- Once the dough begins to come together, knead it by hand until smooth.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours to allow it to rest.
Shape the mooncakes
- Divide the dough into 40g portions using a scale.
- Press each portion of dough as thin as possible by hands, then wrap it around the prepared filling.
- Press gently and push the dough up to cover the filling completely, ensuring no air is trapped.
- Dust the dough with toasted glutinous rice flour to prevent sticking.
- Press the dough into a mooncake mold and firmly press to shape the mooncake.
- Gently release the shaped mooncake from the mold.
Bake the mooncakes
- Preheat the oven to 380°F (190°C).
- Place the shaped mooncakes on a baking tray and bake for 7 minutes.
- Remove the mooncakes from the oven and brush the tops with yolk wash.
- Return the mooncakes to the oven and bake for an additional 13-15 minutes until golden brown.
