Mooncakes on August 15

The traditional food for the Mid-Autumn Festival is mooncakes, which are round and symbolize reunion, reflecting people's good wishes for family reunion. It is said that eating mooncakes at Mid-Autumn Festival began in the Yuan Dynasty, when Zhu Yuanzhang, leading the Han Chinese people to rebel against the tyranny of the Yuan Dynasty, agreed to rise up on the 15th day of the 8th month, and passed on the news by giving each other mooncakes with a note in the mooncake. The custom of eating mooncakes at the Mid-Autumn Festival was then spread among the people. The English spelling is: mooncake (月亮蛋糕).

Later, Zhu Yuanzhang finally overthrew the Yuan Dynasty and became the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and although the Qing Dynasty later came to dominate China, people still celebrated the festival to symbolize the overthrow of foreign rule.

It is said that in ancient times in China, emperors had a ritual of sacrificing the sun in the spring and the moon in the fall. In folklore, there is also a custom of worshipping or sacrificing to the moon around every August mid-autumn festival. "The moon is full on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, and the mooncake is fragrant and sweet on the mid-autumn festival," says the famous proverb, which describes the custom of eating mooncakes on the night of the mid-autumn festival in the city and the countryside. The mooncake was first used as an offering to the moon god, and then people gradually took the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival and tasted the mooncake as a symbol of family reunion, and slowly the mooncake became a gift for the festival.

The mooncake was first introduced to the Tang Dynasty as an army food. During the reign of Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty, General Li Jing was victorious in his campaign against the Xiongnu, and returned home on August 15 in triumph.

The Turpanese, who were merchants at the time, offered mooncakes to the Tang emperor to celebrate his victory. Li Yuan, the first emperor of the Tang Dynasty, took the gorgeous cake box, took out the round cake, and pointed to the bright moon in the sky with a smile and said, "I should invite the toad with the Hu cake." After saying this, he distributed the cakes among his ministers and ate them together.

Southern Song Wu Zimu's "Dream Sorghum Records" book, there has been the word "mooncake", but on the Mid-Autumn Festival to taste the moon, eat mooncake description, is the Ming Dynasty's "West Lake Excursion Zhi will be" only recorded: "August 15 is called the middle of the autumn, the folk to the mooncake to bequeath to each other, to take the reunion of the righteousness! ". By the Qing Dynasty, there are more records about mooncakes, and the production is becoming more and more elaborate.

Moon cake development to today, more varieties, flavors vary from place to place. Among them, Beijing-style, Suzhou-style, Canton-style, Chao-style moon cakes are widely eaten by people in the north and south of China.

Mooncakes symbolize reunion and are a must for the Mid-Autumn Festival. On the night of the festival, people also love to eat some watermelon and other fruits of reunion, praying for a happy, sweet and peaceful life for their families.

Mooncake classification

China's mooncake varieties, according to the origin of: Beijing-style mooncakes, Cantonese mooncakes, Soviet-style mooncakes, Taiwanese mooncakes, Dian-style mooncakes, Hong Kong-style mooncakes, Chao-style mooncakes, and even Japanese; on the flavor, sweet, savory, salty-sweet, hot and spicy; from the filling, there are five nuts, bean paste, icing sugar, black sesame, ham mooncakes, etc.; according to the crust, there is a paste skin, Mixed sugar crust, puff pastry three categories; related classification is briefly described as follows:

(1) Cantonese-style moon cakes. Cantonese mooncake is currently the largest category of mooncakes, which originated in Guangdong and the surrounding areas, has become popular throughout the country, characterized by thin skin, large filling, usually the ratio of skin to filling 2:8, the oil content of the skin and filling is higher than that of other types of eating taste fluffy, smooth, glossy surface highlights the prominent representatives of the Guangzhou Lianxianglou and the Guangzhou Restaurants of the white lotus seed paste mooncake.

(2) Beijing-style moon cakes. Beijing-style moon cakes originated in Beijing and Tianjin and the surrounding areas, there is a certain market in the north, its main feature is the sweetness and skin-filling ratio is moderate, the general skin-filling ratio of 4:6, to the filling of the special flavor-based, crisp and loose texture, the main products are the Beijing Taoxiangcun's self red moon cakes, self white moon cakes, and five kernels of moon cakes and so on.

(3) Soviet-style moon cakes. Soviet-style moon cakes originated in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and neighboring areas, its main feature is the loose crust, filling with five kernels, bean paste, etc., the sweetness is higher than other types of moon cakes, the main products are produced in Hangzhou, Luminous Soviet-style moon cakes, etc..

(4) Dian-style moon cakes. Dian-style moon cakes are mainly originated and popular in Yunnan, Guizhou and the surrounding areas, and now also gradually by consumers in other regions like, its main feature is the filling of Dian-style ham, loose crust, filling salty and sweet to taste, there is a unique Dian-style ham flavor, the main product is the production of Kunming Jixingxiang cloud leg moon cakes.

Other moon cakes. Other help style moon cakes relatively small amount, such as iced moon cakes, fruit and vegetable moon cakes, seafood moon cakes, coconut milk moon cakes, tea moon cakes

How to buy moon cakes

1. Look at the brand, try to choose those famous brands of old products.

2. Look at the trademark, buy the products with complete production labeling.

3. Look at the production date and shelf life.

Identification of mooncakes

Look at the appearance. First of all, the mooncake block is uniform in size and full of circumference. Canton style moon cake surface is light brown, standing wall is creamy yellow, egg paste coated uniformly, and the pattern is labeled with the name of the factory and filling core. Beijing-style mooncakes without pattern, name. Such as tap red crust brownish-yellow, not bald, not raw, not paste, not run sugar does not show filling.

Two smell odor. Quality of fresh moon cakes, can emit a moon cake unique pungent flavor, due to different raw materials, skin filling flavor varies. If the use of poor-quality raw materials or storage of moon cakes for a long time, it will smell a strange odor or harla flavor.

Third, taste. General Cantonese mooncake is thin skin, large filling, pure flavor, soft and crisp texture. Filling core to lotus seed paste, coconut, egg yolk, fruit and various meat fillings, sweet and salty moderation. The skin and filling of Beijing-style mooncakes are made in a delicate and complicated way. Mooncake skin has oil skin, shortening skin, clarified pulp skin and Beijing wide skin four categories; filling core is divided into refining filling, fried filling, rubbing the filling of the three categories, the filling core contains more fruit, cut can be seen after the peach kernel, melon kernel, hemp kernel, cinnamon, green and red silk and a variety of fruits, since the red mooncake also contains icing sugar, eat up the fluffy and sharp mouth, soft and delicate. Poor quality moon cakes are not only tough skin without a sense of fluffiness, there is often a bitter taste.

The correct consumption of moon cakes

In recent years, the moon cake market variety, the emergence of sugar-free moon cakes, iced moon cakes, fruit moon cakes, grains moon cakes, vegetarian moon cakes, flower moon cakes, edible fungi moon cakes, etc., suitable for different people need. According to reports, eat moon cakes if accompanied by tea, one can solve the greasy, digestive, and the second can be chewed slowly, increase the flavor to help. Generally speaking, eat savory moon cakes to drink oolong tea is good, eat sweet moon cakes to drink flower tea is good.

Mooncake storage method

Mooncake filling is generally divided into two kinds of soft and hard, soft filling contains more water, can only be saved for about 7 to 10 days, while the hard filling mooncakes can be saved for about 1 month. For boxed mooncakes, the lid should be opened to allow ventilation. In addition, because mooncakes contain more fat, they should also be stored away from light to prevent oxidation of the oils.

Mooncakes should be handled gently, especially Su-style mooncakes because the skin is flaky and easy to break. If the crust falls off, not only affects the appearance, but also affects the taste, quality, and susceptible to moisture deterioration.

Mooncakes are rich in fat and sugar, and are susceptible to mold and deterioration when exposed to heat and moisture, so be sure to store mooncakes in a cool, shaded, ventilated place. Generally speaking, mooncake skin is soft, moisture, easy to spoil, it is best to put the mooncake with the box into the refrigerator freezer, take it out one hour before eating, can ensure that it tastes. In the temperature environment of 25 degrees Celsius, almonds, fruits and other fillings moon cakes can be stored for about 15 days; bean paste, lotus seed paste, date paste and other fillings moon cakes, storage time should not be more than 10 days; if the temperature is more than 30 degrees Celsius, the moon cake storage time should be appropriately shortened, should not be more than 7 days; as for the moon cakes of fresh meat, shredded chicken, ham, etc., should be eaten as you buy.

When the moon cakes are stored, they should not be put together with other foods and sundries, so as to avoid cascading flavors and losing their proper taste and characteristics.

Multiple records

Mooncakes, originally a kind of offerings during the moon festival, later became a gift for folk to give to each other. According to the West Lake Tourism Records, "Folks give each other mooncakes to take the meaning of reunion." Dong Po to "small cakes such as chewing the moon, there are crispy and syrup" to praise the moon cake. Legend has it that in ancient times, the emperor had the ritual of sacrificing the sun in spring and the moon in fall. In folklore, there is also a custom of worshipping or sacrificing to the moon around the mid-autumn festival in August. The famous proverb "The moon is full on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, and the mooncake is fragrant and sweet" describes the custom of eating mooncakes on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival in both urban and rural areas. The mooncake was first used as an offering to the moon god, and then people gradually took the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival mooncake as a symbol of family reunion, and slowly the mooncake became a gift for the festival.

The mooncake was first introduced to the Tang Dynasty as an army food. During the reign of Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty, General Li Jing was victorious in his campaign against the Xiongnu, and returned home on August 15 in triumph.

The Turpanese, who were merchants at the time, offered mooncakes to the Tang emperor to wish him well. Li Yuan, the first emperor of the Tang Dynasty, took the gorgeous cake box, took out the round cake, and pointed to the bright moon in the sky with a smile and said, "I should invite the toad with the Hu cake." After saying this, he distributed the cakes among his ministers and ate them together.

Mooncakes symbolize reunion and are a must-have for the Mid-Autumn Festival. On the night of the festival, people also love to eat some watermelons, fruits and other fruits of reunion, praying for the family to live a happy, sweet and peaceful life.

Mid-Autumn Festival to eat moon cakes, and the Dragon Boat Festival to eat rice dumplings, Lantern Festival to eat dumplings, as is the traditional custom of China's folk. Throughout the ages, people have taken mooncakes as a symbol of good luck and reunion. Every Mid-Autumn Festival, the moon in the sky, the family reunion, tasting cakes and enjoying the moon, talk about heaven and earth, to enjoy the happiness of heaven and earth. Mooncake, also known as Hu cake, Palace cake, small cakes, moon ball, reunion cake, etc., is the ancient Mid-Autumn Festival offerings to worship the moon god, passed down, it formed the Mid-Autumn Festival to eat the custom of mooncakes. Mooncakes have a long history in China. According to historical records, as early as in the Yin, Zhou period, Jiang, Zhejiang, there is a commemorative master Wenzhong's thin side of the heart of the thick "Master Cake", which is China's mooncake "ancestor". Han Dynasty, Zhang Qian's mission to the West, the introduction of sesame seeds, walnuts, moon cakes for the production of additional ingredients, then appeared in the walnut kernel as the filling of the round cake, called "Hu cake". Tang Dynasty, the folk have been engaged in the production of cake masters, the capital Chang'an also began to appear cake store. It is said that one Mid-Autumn Festival night, Tang Taizong and Yang Guifei enjoy the moon to eat Hu cake, Tang Taizong smacked "Hu cake" name is not good, Yang Guifei looked up at the bright moon, the heart surging, out of the mouth and "moon cake", and from then on "moon cake The name of "moon cake" will gradually spread in the folk. Northern Song Dynasty Royal Mid-Autumn Festival like to eat a "palace cake", folk commonly known as "small cakes", "moon ball". Su Dongpo has a poem: "small cakes such as chewing the moon, there are crispy and Yi." To the Ming Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival to eat moon cakes in the folk gradually spread. At that time, the clever baker, the Chang'e moon mythological story as a food art pattern printed on the mooncake, so that the mooncake has become more popular Mid-Autumn Festival essential food. The Ming Dynasty Tian Rucheng "West Lake Excursions" said: "August 15 is called the Mid-Autumn Festival, the folk to the moon cake to send each other, take the meaning of reunion." Qing Dynasty, the production process of moon cakes has improved greatly, the variety is also increasing, for the moon moon cakes everywhere. Yuan Jinglan, a poet of the Qing Dynasty, wrote a long poem entitled "Mooncake Poem", which reads, "The light in the kitchen snatches the frost, and the steam kettle flows with liquid. The mooncake is kneaded with fine flour dust and dotted with rouge traces. Relatives feed each other, the festival is not allowed to neglect ...... children sit in the reunion, cups and plates scattered mess," and other lines, from the production of mooncakes, friends and relatives to give each other mooncakes to set up a family feast and enjoy the moon, the narrative is exhaustive.

It is said that the mooncake appeared in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty. It was the main item used to worship the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and was shared by the whole family after the offering. Since mooncakes symbolize reunion, they are called "reunion cakes" in some places. According to "Yanjing Yushiji - Moon Cakes", "Moon cakes for moon worship are found everywhere, and the large ones are more than a foot in size, on which the moon is painted in the shape of a toad and a rabbit. There are those who eat them after the festival and those who eat them on New Year's Eve." In a poem by Su Dongpo, he said, "Small cakes are like chewing the moon, with crispy and syrupy ingredients." Yang Guangfu's Songnan Caifu (Songnan Caifu) of the Qing Dynasty wrote: "Mooncakes are filled with peach and meat, and ice-cream is sweetened with sugar cane cream." It seems that the mooncakes of that time were already quite similar to those of today.

The traditional Mid-Autumn Festival is a festival of reunion, which is why there are old poems that say, "Every festive season is a time to think of one's relatives, and every time one inserts a Cornucopia, there is one less person," and so on, which means that at Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone looks forward to the reunion even more. If someone in the family is overseas or out of town and can come home for a reunion, it will increase the feeling of longing, which is a characteristic of China's family as the unit of society, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is also a concentrated expression of this characteristic.

China's successive agricultural country, the Mid-Autumn Festival is just spring and autumn, agricultural harvest season, so the rural areas have to "Taro Kui" worship custom, that is, the so-called Mid-Autumn Festival to eat sweet potatoes, taro, the two root crops, the shape of its large and round, symbolizing the meaning of the harvest and the completion of the. The gift of mooncakes between friends and relatives is also a symbol of completion and reunion.

Mid-Autumn Festival night, sitting around the family, the moon in the sky, or the moon drinking, or tea to eat mooncakes to help the conversation, but also one of life's pleasures. So no Mid-Autumn Festival can eat mooncakes, and no mooncakes are not Mid-Autumn Festival, so Mid-Autumn Festival and mooncakes are closely linked indispensable. The origin of this custom is also said to be various.

It is said that during the reign of Emperor Wu De of the Tang Dynasty, the border invasion. Li Jing marshal division went to war, won a great victory in the Mid-Autumn Festival triumph, inside and outside Chang'an all-night celebrations, there are Tubo people offer cakes to wish success, Gaozu took out the round cake fingers bright moon said with a smile, "should be Hu cake invite toad." Subsequently distributed to the group of ministers **** bite, and then formed the custom of eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Two said that the Northern Song Dynasty Mid-Autumn Festival to climb the mountains and buildings to see the moon as soon as possible, and then held a ceremony to worship the moon, offerings have round cake, according to the "Yanjing Years and Years - moon cake" cloud: "to the moon cake, everywhere, large more than a foot, painted on the shape of the Moon Palace toad, there are sacrifices and eaters". This is the Song dynasty custom of eating moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Or that the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the ruler of the implementation of the "three families to raise a dollar, five families a dish million" of brutal oppression, Liu Bowen organized a peasant revolt, the special large round cake, hidden inside the note, agreed to the night of the 15th of August revolt, the results of the revolt succeeded in overthrowing the Yuan Dynasty, the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, and the custom of the Mid-Autumn Festival mooncakes are more popular.

In short, the Mid-Autumn Festival reunion, the moon and the custom of eating moon cakes, has a long history, and after generations, constantly adding new content to enrich this traditional festival rich in national characteristics, has been passed down to the present day, and prevails.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is the second largest folk festival in China, in addition to the New Year's Day, with the Mid-Autumn full moon to symbolize the reunion of the world. Every year in August, the Mid-Autumn Festival has not yet come, the market is already a wide range of mooncakes have become a major landscape. People give each other moon cakes, especially on the night of the fifteenth, family reunion in the face of the moon in the sky, cake and enjoy the moon is not interesting.

As for the origin of the moon cake has always been a variety of opinions, and even with the ancient legend of Houyi shoot the sun, Chang'e run to the moon with a little relationship. Here is a story about Emperor Tang Minghuang in the eighth century AD.

According to legend, the Tang Dynasty, Xuanzong years of a mid-autumn night, the Tang Emperor Li Longji in the palace to enjoy the moon, beside the Taoist priest Luo Gongyuan magic, will be thrown to the clouds into the sky cane into a long bridge, invited Xuanzong with the Moon Palace. Two people walked across the bridge, suddenly appeared in front of a palace, the book "Guanghan Qingxu House". And then look at the palace of fairy mountains and pavilions fascinating. In the palace, Chang'e ordered the palace maid to bring delicious cakes for the guests to taste, and watched the celestial fairies perform a light song and dance.

To return to the earth, the Tang Emperor ordered people according to the moon palace seen and heard one copy down. Since then, the earth has been "Nishang Yuyi song" and "moon cake" shaped like a full moon. Su Dongpo has "small cakes such as chewing the moon, there are crispy and syrup," the poem, indicating that the Song Dynasty moon cakes have been very sophisticated workmanship prevailed in the world.

Additionally, it is rumored that Zhang Shicheng, the leader of the late Yuan Dynasty peasant uprising, took advantage of the custom of giving mooncakes to friends and relatives during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and inserted a note of uprising into the mooncake filling, which led to the eventual overthrow of the Yuan Dynasty by gathering people from different parts of the country to fight on the Mid-Autumn Festival.

It is said that the origin of the mooncake is because the two countries are at war, came up with a special Song superstitious method, that is, the note rolled up and put in a round cake, go to pass the message or not to be found by the enemy, and then the soldiers were hungry, ate the mooncake, and then it was widely circulated.

Looking for information is really hard

Finally, I wish you all a happy Mid-Autumn Festival.