Moon Cakes

It's the Mid-Autumn Festival and even though I don't have one drop of Chinese blood in me, I am one with them in celebrating this happy occasion. I say happy because this is the only time of the year where I can eat moon cakes. Yes, those yummy confection that blends sweet and sour, mochi and green tea, mochi and green bean paste, or whatever concoctions they come up with.

I don't remember the first time I tasted moon cakes but I do remember one particular moon cake. Somebody gave a family member a tin of mooncakes. They looked heavy and were heavy. I couldn't wait and took a fork. There was a big egg yolk in the middle of the brown coloured paste. One forkful and I was in heaven.  The sweet and sour taste blended perfectly. And that was all it took - one forkful.

Each year, I try to look for moon cakes but I wasn't able to until this year. This year, I told myself I'd go look for moon cakes no matter what it takes. I initially wanted my friend to post me some from Hong Kong but knowing how tight Australian Customs are when it comes to milk and dairy products, I knew it would be impossible. So I did the next best thing, I texted a Taiwanese friend. The standard reply: Chinatown. Anywhere else? Bread top.

And bread top it was. It was 8.35 in the morning and I was one of the few who were early buying moon cakes. They had pandan flavour, the traditional white lotus paste and what do I see? Mochi and green bean paste. The last one was yummy. But it was too heavy so after eating one piece I gave the other to a classmate who squealed with joy when she realised it was her favourite flavour.

I got two more boxes and still not satisfied, I went to Chinatown in Little Bourke and saw Maxim's Cakes. And there they were - mooncakes in tins. They had a buy one take one promo and discounted rates for others but since I wasn't sure V would share my taste for them, I bought the individual tins for AUD14.00 and got another one for free.

These should be enough to last me until my cravings are gone. =)

From Bread top, the mochi ones got eaten early on.

From Maxim's Cakes at Little Bourke St in the city.

When I checked the label, it says they were manufactured in Hong Kong. So, in the end, I still got my Hong Kong - made moon cakes.