admin(No.6, Vol.6,Aug-Sep 2016 Vietnam Heritage Magazine)
Moon n Sun is a result of the fusion of cuisine and art. Moon cakes are made for those who love the essence of nature. There are a variety of flavours available, including melted matcha with salted egg yolk and lotus seed. Their signature cake is cheese with coffee moon cake with scattered gold leaves on surface. The gold leaves are edible and imported from France. Moon n Sun does not use preservatives or chemicals.
Moon Cake boxes are luxuriously and elegantly designed. Moon n Sun is a perfect choice to give to clients and friends during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Readers can find and buy moon cakes of Moon n Sun in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City
Hanoi
8A Hai Ba Trung St, Hoan Kiem Dist. Tel: (04) 3972-2609
64A Quan Su St, Hoan Kiem Dist. Tel: (04) 6260-2725
Ho Chi Minh City
115 Hai Ba Trung St, Ben Nghe ward. Tel: (08) 3824-6491
www.moonnsun.com
Salty and sweet, Mid-Autumn cakes remind us of life itself
Mid-Autumn Festival, in the mid of the 8th month of the lunar calendar, is the time for families to reunite, and for all Vietnamese to reaffirm their filial bonds and mutual affection. Thus, for those living far from home, this is the most important celebration of the year, perhaps even more than Tet. On this occasion, people buy things to decorate the ancestral altar and presents to give their loved ones and friends to express love and care. The presents can be tea, wine or fruits, but Mid-Autumn cakes are the most popular and meaningful present for such an occasion. These cakes appear only at this holiday and represent fulfilment and satisfaction, which are the best of wishes one can bestow on one’s loved ones. More than just cake or gifts, they carry the spiritual significance of the festival. So Mid-Autumn is also considered the time of cakes, mostly baked cakes and glutinous cakes.
All cakes have two parts: the coating and the stuffing. Yellow sticky rice is best for the glutinous cake coat. It is roasted, ground or pounded as fine as possible, and then kneaded with water, sugar and a few drops of pomelo flower oil. This work is very meticulous, to ensure measured sweetness, glutinous softness, elegant fragrance, as well as the smoothness on the surface of the moulded coat with 8 or 10- petal blooming flower pattern. The stuffing is done by masters who know the secrets of the seasoning process. Ideal ingredients include green bean, melon seeds and sugar coated lotus seeds. Only recently have the recipes been modernized by adding smoked Chinese sausage slices.
On the other hand, the baked cake coating is made of oat flour with little flavour. The sweet, oily stuffing includes up to ten ingredients, such as dry preserved squash, melon seeds, roasted pork, roasted chicken, or smoked Chinese sausage. There are also vegetarian cakes, stuffed with green bean, threaded copra, lotus seeds, etc.
Glutinous cakes are translucent white. Slightly oily baked cakes may look yellow or brownish depending on the baking time. Mid-Autumn cakes are usually round (10cm in diameter), or square (8cm x 8cm). The coat is thin (less than 5mm). Every stack of 4 cakes weighs 1kg. Apart from these standard forms, Mid-Autumn cakes may be seen in many other forms, such as fish, or mother pig and her cubs, etc. Compared to western cakes, our Mid-Autumn cakes are much less sweet. The stuffing may also include a salted egg, which symbolizes both the full moon and fulfilment. The salty taste also neutralizes the sweetness of the other ingredients, which symbolizes the thought that our loved ones are always with us, in happiness and despair, in joy and sorrow; they always wrap us in their love and care.
*This article appeared originally in Vietnamese on www.monngonhanoi.com