The Moon Festival is a time to give thanks—for the crops and for family—so people set up alters laden with dutifully round foods: pomegranates, melons, apples, grapes, and peaches. Festival menus include persimmon, roasted chestnuts, pomelo, and steamed taro dipped in sugar. Red-colored foods are considered lucky, as are foods whose names sound auspicious. In China, the word for “fish” means plentitude. And the word for oranges sounds like the words for prosperous and lucky. The best known festival food, however, is the Moon Cake.
You can find Moon cakes in a range of stores, depending on whether you’re looking for small, cookie-like cakes that are simply wrapped, or super-fancy filled moon cakes in lacquer presentation boxes built in animal shapes. They have a variety of fillings, from basic sugar, sesame, or nuts to lotus seed paste with “thousand-year-old duck egg” (fermented duck egg).
For delicious Asian-style recipes, visit our Cooking Section.
