Mooncake - The Journey

I have always believed that there are a few chinese traditions which should be kept and passed on from generation to generation so that we never forget such tradition.... There is 3 in particular which I have always wanted to learn..

1. Bak Chang (chinese dumplings)

2. Mooncake

3. Lin Kou

Well I have done the first a number of times and this year I felt extra hardworking so I attempted the second one... So here is my journey...

I was highly ambitious so I tried both lotus paste filling and red bean paste filling... fuiyoh!! talk about an ambitious first time!! :D

First you start of with the beans... Red bean is pretty easy... You got the beans... cook them til soft... blend them... sieve them... cook them for an hour and a half...

Tadaa!!! all done.... still took about 5 hours as a whole though....

Next up... the lotus paste... now this one is kinda a toughie.... first you need to remove the pith from the 'lin chi' (lotus seeds) so that you dont get the bitterness of it... Then you boil it to soften the shell....

Then you soak it and piece by piece remove the shell... Fuh!! This was back breaking work.. took me 3 hours to remove all the skin....

Clean babies.... they then go into the pot.. cook til soft... blend then sieve... then cook for about an hour and a half again....

Waalah!!! the paste is at last ready.... I slept at 2am to finish this... haiz.... the things I do for tradition.....

Next morning it's rise and shine.... time to make the outer skin... after again having a mixture left over nite now I gotta mix the flour in til I get a dough consistency...

Shape the fillings into little balls...

I am ready to make wrap the filling in my mooncake skin.... The mould is nice and oiled... ready for some stamping... luckily I have the modern contraption and not the traditional wooden knock knock wan... that is only for elaine's fishies...

The raw mooncakes ready for the oven... looks authentic huh? Me so proud of meself... hehe!!!

Made a little piggy for fun.... cute huh?

Final step... into the oven it goes.... Oops... kinda over browned some bits... couldnt estimate the temperature of the oven..thank god nothing got burnt....

Check it out!!! looks good huh?

The inside view....

Well I hope it taste as good or even better than the ones bought... hehe!! For those who got a chance to try... please leave your comments... :D