Description
A mooncake (simplified Chinese: 月饼; traditional Chinese: 月餅) is a Chinese bakery product traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節). The festival is about lunar appreciation and moon watching, and mooncakes are regarded as an indispensable delicacy. Mooncakes are offered between friends or at family gatherings while celebrating the festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the four most important Chinese festivals.
Most mooncakes consist of a thick, tender pastry skin enveloping a sweet, dense filling and may contain one or more whole salted egg yolks in their center as the symbol of the full moon. Very rarely, mooncakes are also served steamed or fried.
Traditional mooncakes have an imprint on top consisting of the Chinese characters for “longevity” or “harmony.”
