Mooncakes are an Asian delicacy served during the harvest season to celebrate family and prosperity.
For Chang Lee, Chuseok is all about the family. Chuseok is the Mid-Autumn Festival for Lee, who is Korean American and president of the Korean American Association of New Jersey.The festival — celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month on the lunar calendar, this year Sept. 29 — is an eight-day holiday in East Asian culture. It is a time to give thanks for the fall harvest and to spend time with family.
While family and harvest are celebrated during mid-autumn, the star of the holiday season is the mooncake. It’s not just a singular style of mooncake. Each country and region boast its own distinct flavor when it comes to the autumn treat. Mooncakes are pastries, either sweet or savory. They are round, square or even moon-shaped.
In China and in Chinese American communities, mooncakes vary by region. Beijing-style, served in northern China, is dense and sweet. The Shanghai-style cake is savory and filled with pork, with a pastry crust. The Cantonese-style is a blend of savory and sweet, with salted double yolks and lotus paste, and is the most common style served at restaurants and festivals. Because the Cantonese cakes are rich and dense, they are usually cut into quarters before serving.
Mooncakes are given as gifts and in the early fall season, much like Americans gift fruit cakes during the holidays. In the U.S., you can find mooncakes at Chinese supermarkets and online at Amazon. Some Chinese restaurants offer the treats during this time of the year. Most mooncakes may be purchased in the $30 to $70 range in Asian super markets or online. But there is a market for luxury mooncakes, as they are given as gifts.
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