中秋節 and 月餅!!!

Happy Mid-Autum Festival!!! Today is the 15th day of the eight month of the lunar calendar, and people are supposed to go out tonight to look at the full moon and eat moon cakes. I already had my share of moon cakes (月餅) when I was in US. Ma made some really good moon cakes. Unfortunately, because of the dough and the fillings were a bit too soft, the cakes didn't look as good as usual (Ma said so), but it was still very tasty and much healthier than the ones found in stores. Whenever I tell my friends my mom can make moon cakes, they're all very impressed. Heck, I'm impressed by her skills too. This time she made two different types of mooncakes. One is a flaky crusted version filled with mung bean paste and a bit of 肉鬆 ("rho-song" which is dried meat floss). Another type is the Cantonese style. This version the shape of the cake comes from a mold. My mom uses the really cute one of a bunny pounding rice with a mortar and pestal. One version she made was filled with pineapple paste, and another version was filled with red bean paste and a piece of water chestnut in each cake. I'm glad she didn't make the lotus paste version because I find that one too sticky and sweet for my taste. Good times.

I can give you the whole history and the folktales/myths behind this holiday, but I won't.