Festivities

If you’ve been blog-hopping quite a bit, like me, you may have noticed quite a few blogger friends are churning out mooncakes for the coming Mooncake Festival. I’ve seen some really well-made mooncakes, be it traditional baked ones, colorful snowskin or the cute ‘piglets’. Here I am joining in the fun, talking about mooncakes, but but but, I didn’t make them. I much prefer to buy them.

Following the ‘tradition’ for the past few years, I bought these from 'Tai Chong Kok' in Alexandra Village. I usually buy from their shop in Chinatown, but since I was in AV a few weeks ago, I thought I could save myself a trip then. If you like mooncakes of a good quality and reasonable pricing, Tai Chong Kok could be an option. But there are no elaborate packaging here though, which contributes to it’s low pricing.

White lotus paste with single yolk.

Having been around for many years, Tai Chong Kok is not one that produces fanciful mooncakes like the wide myriad on the market now(think foie gras in mooncakes). However, I found this new offering from them this year.

I can’t recall the full name, but it’s basically a buttery pastry encasing lotus paste and an egg yolk, studded with walnut at the sides. Actually this idea is not new, but is it a sign of keeping up with the times?

Ever since I found out that Crown Hotel is no longer producing my favourite yam mooncakes, I thought my mooncake buying would stop at the ‘moon pastry’ above, until I stopped by the booth set up by Imperial Treasure group at Great World City. A bite at the little morsel on the toothpick made me pick up two boxes instantly.

As you can see, these came with some ‘serious’ packaging. Each mooncake is individually packed, and came with a plastic knife and 4 little forks, how convenient right? The auntie at the booth was very nice, who even told us how much of the cost went into the packaging. A quick calculation revealed that the mooncake itself would cost as much (or as little) as the no-frills one I bought from Tai Chong Kok.

Anyway, costing aside, I must say the chefs at Imperial Treasure sure know the way to smooth lotus paste without the greasiness and overt sweetness as found in some other mooncakes. The skin is not too thick and the egg yolk (important for balancing the sweetness) is of a good quality, oozing bright orange oil as I cut through it. In summary, this is one of the best mid-price mooncakes I’ve had in a few years.

Mooncake Festival falls on 6th October, Friday. So grab a chair, make a pot of Chinese Tea, savour some mooncakes under the bright moonlight(provided the moon is not obscured by the haze here in Singapore) with your loved ones. Happy Mooncake Festival!