Mid-Autumn Mooncakes
By Kerry Allen & Tom Mangione
30 September this year spells the beginning of Mid-Autumn Festival, the nationwide public holiday celebrated with such festivities as burning incense for deities like Chang’e (the Chinese goddess of the moon), floating sky lanterns and most importantly, giving mooncakes as gifts to loved ones.
Of course with so much selection around, it’s difficult to know where to go, whether you’re looking for a box of traditional flavours like egg yolk or lotus paste, or something a little out of the ordinary, like red wine and cranberry. Talk Magazine did the legwork and sampled offerings from ten of the best places to go in town. Here are our top picks.
Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao
For the mooncake hoopla of Mid-Autumn Festival, the Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao has decided to go green. Joining up with an initiative started by Hong Kong TV and movie actress Kara Hui, RMB 10 of every box of mooncakes sold will be donated to the eco-friendly NGO World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). In addition, the delicacies all come in packaging made from 100 per cent recycled material. We tried the Deluxe Mooncake Box featuring White Lotus Puree with Egg Yolk, Walnuts and Red Bean Purée, and Maccha Purée. Kerry was most taken with the Maccha Purée, commenting that it had a "strong, robust flavour" full of the concentrated, granular texture of maccha. Tom was wild for the Walnut and Red Bean Purée. Heavy on the walnuts, the subtle, mildly-sweet red bean paste served as a light backdrop.
Price: Deluxe Mooncake Box (six pieces) - RMB 188
Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao. 1116 Hongsong Dong Lu, near Zhonghuan Lu. Tel: 3323 6666 ext 51310
Hyatt on the Bund
The five elements of feng shui make their way into the mooncakes from Hyatt on the Bund, with a serving of tea serving as one of the elements (Fire) to cleanse the palate and invigorate the senses. The Pineapple mooncake (Earth) was the most unique; with real dried pineapple pieces mixed in with the thick pineapple jelly, this mooncake maintained the original tartness of the fruit without being too sugary. The other three offerings rounded out the set more subtly: a crunchy, yet light Black Sesame (Water), a slightly citrus Black Tea with Lime (Wood) and a buttery, White Lotus Egg Yolk (Gold) that sticks to the roof of your mouth.
Price: Five Elements Mooncake set (four pieces with tea) – RMB 248
Hyatt on the Bund. 199 Huangpu Lu, near Wuchang Lu. Tel: 6393 1234
The Langham Xintiandi
Ming Court restaurant connoisseur Chef Tsang is the mastermind behind these mini mooncakes, which, coming in the traditional flavours of Lotus Paste and Egg Yolk, locals will love. Rich and full of flavour, it doesn’t take much to be full from one of these; however our Western palates formed doubts over the Double Egg Yolk, finding their saltiness quite an acquired taste. The Mini Custards however, are lovely and biscuity, and it didn’t take long for us to collectively finish the last few bites.
Price: Mini Custard with Egg Yolk (eight pieces) – RMB 198; White Lotus Seed with Double Egg Yolk (four pieces) – RMB 198
Ming Court in the Langham Xintiandi. 5F, 99 Madang Lu, near Taicang Lu. Tel: 2330 2430. E-mail: [email protected]
Grand Hyatt
Grand Hyatt might well win the award for the most impressive packaging, with its elaborately decorated electric blue and pink circular box with a mini Jin Mao Tower on the front. And the mooncakes inside, a selection of four different traditional flavours, were equally impressive. Tom commented that the traditional Egg Yolk and White Lotus Paste was "like a warm omelette", with a very strong, very rich taste. The green bean paste was also a favourite, a very crumbly mooncake that at first doesn’t taste of anything and then exploded into full flavour on the back of the palate.
Price: Celebrate in Style mooncake package (seven pieces) - RMB 288
Grand Hyatt. 53 – 87F, 88 Shiji Dadao, near Dongtai Lu. Tel: 5049 1234. E-mail: [email protected]
Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel
Taking influence from the five elements of feng shui, the Jumeirah offered something really special, and we found ourselves bowled over by the presentation as soon as we opened the box (and that’s before we got to the free iPhone cover). Each individual mooncake was set apart with its own individual shape and colouring. The ‘Water’ mooncake for instance, a crystal cheese flavoured mooncake, was a terracotta cream jelly paste with markings like a shell.
The individual flavours definitely set this box apart, and we particularly liked the ‘Fire’ mooncake, which was chocolate iced coffee flavoured and smelt like a warm chocolate brownie, with a caramel texture. The ‘Gold’ Kumquat Bean Paste was rich with a marzipan texture and the ‘Earth’ mooncake, made of Turkish dates, had a sweet and fruity taste like a fig biscuit, with a lingering aftertaste.
Price: Jumeirah mooncake collection (five pieces) – RMB 298
Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel. 1108 Meihua Lu, near Fangdian Lu. Tel: 3858 0728. E-mail: [email protected]
