Every year on the 15th day of the 8th month (八月十五) on lunar calendar, Chinese celebrates mid-autumn festival or mooncake festival. This year, the festival falls on October 3, Saturday.
As a child, mid-autumn festival (中秋节) was my favorite Chinese festivity, second to only Chinese New Year. That was the time of year when I got to play with my new toy–a lantern made of brightly colorful and transparent sheets where the candle inside it would shine through. And then, there were mooncakes and special mid-autumn only foods such as sugar-glazed fried taro and various sweet candies. Mid-autumn festival was always so much fun as my family would gather together under the radiant and glistening full moon, did our prayers and had a feast of mooncakes and other offerings…
Fast forward to the present, I couldn’t even remember the last time I celebrated mid-autumn festival, but starting this year, I intend to make it into an annual ritual. The Asian markets and Chinese pastry shops are teeming with great selections of mooncakes, with so many imported and “innovative” varieties from Hong Kong, Taiwan, China that I was thoroughly overwhelmed. I then reflected on the fact that I have always loved mooncakes from Malaysia–simple, traditional, delicious, and stay true to originality. I bought two boxes of mooncakes online: Oversea (Hai Wai Tian/海外天) Mooncakes and Tai Thong (大同) Mooncakes (halal).
They are great mooncakes from trusted brands in Malaysia. If you are celebrating mid-autumn festival this year, do try out Malaysian mooncakes. I will guarantee that they won’t disappoint!
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Will be in Singapore. So will enjoy the celebration first hand! Each year everyone invents new ideas & flavors. I still actually like the more traditional but always open to new ideas, so lots of tasting to do…
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Yea, there are lots of innovative mooncake but I like the traditional ones.
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ooohh… i have my eyes on that “lemon greentea” :) I love mooncake, I can’t wait to receive mine some time this week!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
The green tea mooncake was great.
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Guest replied:
Delicious????
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Delicious.
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Hmm, they don’t have durian filling. May be I should try pandan.
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Not sure about durian filling that sounds great.
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T replied:
They added Durian with 1 yolk!!!
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not sure if we’ve ever had the malaysian style but will keep an eye out for it–love the salted eggs inside them.
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Yea, the salted egg yolk is awesome I love it.
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oh..it’s that time of the year again! Love mooncakes.
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Awesome yes mooncake is great.
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i never try that but look good..thats expencive in asian store…
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Never mind expensive, the festival is once a year.
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Ahh… mooncake time. :) I forgot to bring some back with me this time around, I may have to buy some online or risk not having any this year! Though I have to admit I find them a bit “jilak” if too much is eaten in one go…
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Yes, I know about jilak, lol. Just eat one lo!
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Oh! For half a second I thought you were going to teach us how to make mooncakes :(
I’ve managed to find a couple of stores already selling them here in Australia (hoorah!) and we brought a bevvy of eggless ones back from our recent trip to Malaysia too. Mooncake festival here we come! (If they don’t all get eaten first…)
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
I don’t know how to make mooncake. Have fun celebrating.
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Yum! You may be able to shed some light on this… I know the white one is lotus paste. What’s the black one made from.
Also totally off the track, bought some zong(zi) in M’sia (the pyramid shaped rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves) and the rice was black (??). We only get the white rice variety in Sydney. Any ideas (I’m sure it wasn’t soya sauce)…
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
The black one is red bean paste. For the rice dumplings, it’s dark soy sauce.
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Young Werther replied:
Thank you for that… now I know :)
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so cute mooncakes~
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Yes, it has Chinese characters.
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Absolutely gorgeous mooncake!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Yes, you must buy.
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ahh. the mooncake festival. i try to buy mooncakes every year. do you remember playing the dice game and getting prizes? we ( as a family way back when i was younger) LOVED that part since it meant we would be getting $$$ or gifts. my high school mate’s aunt had a mooncake business and i remember seeing the molds and the labor intensive process. best ones for me are the ones with double yolk (can be more yolks available now i heard) red bean or lotus bean. yummm.
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
I guess we didn’t play the dice game. ;)
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Oh yum. I saw mooncakes when I was shopping this weekend. I’m going to wait until it gets a bit closer though or else I’ll just eat them up before the Moon Festival. I’ve never had Malaysian style mooncakes though.
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Yes, they are too tempting. I am most finished with my mooncake and it’s not even Oct.
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To me..they are just over the top beautiful!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Yes, they are beautiful!
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Wooo…the red bean filling in here is so black!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
I know. I think this one is red bean paste but might be mixture of lotus seed and red bean? I can’t really tell. LOL.
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Oh wow! Oct 3 is my birthday :) How exciting! Now I’ll feel like everyone is celebrating with me ;) Must get myself some mooncake on that day!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
That’s cool, you should celebrate it under the shiny and bright full moon!!
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Though just living across a short expanse of sea from China, Mooncakes are not a custom here in Japan. I was in China around this time of year and purchased a lot of Mooncakes to bring back as presents for people. Everyone loved them and they were REALLY tasty.
Durian filled Mooncakes sound like something that I definitely want to try someday!
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The pictures are truly gorgeous! I didn’t know there were so many varieties of mooncakes. I also grew up eating the traditional type – lotus seed or red bean – and I still love them, but I would love to try the green tea and the 2-layer combo mooncakes. Hmm….I have to make a run to our Chinatown!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Green tea mooncakes are pretty good. I like them.
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This site just added Durian with 1 yolk mooncake!
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Can’t remember when was the last time I had mooncake! I love the yolk and some with sunflower seeds!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
You should buy a box of mooncake.
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I can’t find the mooncake receipes that you indicated can be found at Rasa Malaysia website. All I can see is the introduction of mooncake and the pictures. Can you please advise where I can find the receipes for mooncakes
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
I don’t have the mooncake recipe.
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Yes… Oversea Mooncakes are very good. My family loves the ham and nut (’kam thui”) mooncake especially. With the many brands selling here in SF bay area, I still think Malaysian ones are among the top. My parents used to mail me the ham and nut moooncake from Malaysia, but since USPS tightened up security and threw away my mooncakes few years ago I haven’t tasted any ham and nut mooncake anymore… :-(
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These dishes are looking very delicious and traditional.In China these foods are made for the special events which shows the the tradition and culture of China.
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I am very excited to have recently stumbled upon your blog. The recipes are great and the photographs beautiful. Do you have a good recipe for Mooncakes you could share?
Thanks so much.
Emma
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Thanks for leaving comments. Growing up, we used to have neighbors making their own mooncakes. It seems like a huge undertaking. Maybe that’s why these treats are costly. I don’t have any recipe for them :(
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I never liked the yolk in the center of mooncakes when I was younger. Now, I really think the saltiness plays really well with the sweetness of the rest of it.
Still, I think my favorite will always be the pineapple filled ones with no yolk.
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
I think your yolk comment applies to most of us. As a kid, I will take them out, too. Now, as you said, it blends well with the sweetness of the cake.
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Was hoping to find “ping pei” mooncake. Mine got thrown away by the airport baggage inspection guys when arrived in Dallas, TX. But good to know about the website. Thanks for sharing!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
What?! Mooncake can’t pass the airport inspection?! Why?
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i agreed there’s nothing better compare to “original” mooncake fr m’sia tai thong or hoi ai tin. unfortunately i cant get any in the uk…sighhhh !!!!!
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I have eaten that thingy It wasn’t delicious but good.
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