Moon cake history

Moon cakes, also known as Hu cakes, palace cakes, small cakes, moon cakes, reunion cakes, etc., are offerings to worship the moon god during the Mid-Autumn Festival in ancient times. This formed the custom of eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Mooncakes have a long history in our country. According to historical records, as early as the Yin and Zhou dynasties, there was a kind of "Taishi cake" with thin edges and thick heart in Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas to commemorate Taishi Wenzhong. This is the "ancestor" of Chinese mooncakes. When Zhang Qian of the Han Dynasty was on his mission to the Western Regions, he introduced sesame seeds and walnuts to add auxiliary ingredients to the production of moon cakes. At this time, round cakes filled with walnut kernels appeared, called "Hu cakes".

In the Tang Dynasty, there were already private bakers engaged in production, and bakery shops began to appear in Chang'an, the capital. It is said that on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival one year, when Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and Concubine Yang Guifei were enjoying the moon and eating Hu cakes, Emperor Xuanzong thought that the name "Hu cakes" was not nice. The name "Mooncake" gradually spread among the people.

On the Mid-Autumn Festival, the royal family of the Northern Song Dynasty liked to eat a kind of "palace cake", which is commonly known as "small cake" and "moon cake" among the people. Su Dongpo has a poem that goes: "Small cakes are like chewing the moon, with crispness and joy in the middle."

Zhou Mi, a writer in the Song Dynasty, mentioned "moon cakes" for the first time in "Old Martial Arts", which described what he saw in Lin'an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty. name.

In the Ming Dynasty, eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival gradually became popular among the people. At that time, the ingenious bakers printed the mythical story of Chang'e flying to the moon as a food art pattern on mooncakes, making mooncakes a must-have food for the Mid-Autumn Festival that is more popular among the people.

In the folk, during the Mid-Autumn Festival in August, there is a custom of worshiping or offering sacrifices to the moon. The moon is full on August and fifteenth, and the Mid-Autumn mooncakes are fragrant and sweet. This famous saying goes out

On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is the custom of people in urban and rural areas to eat mooncakes. Mooncakes were first used as sacrifices to worship the moon god. Later, people gradually began to appreciate the moon and taste mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival as a symbol of family reunion. Gradually, mooncakes also became festival gifts.

Edit the varieties of this section

Nowadays, there are many varieties of mooncakes. There are many varieties of mooncakes in my country, which are divided according to their origin: Beijing-style mooncakes, Cantonese-style mooncakes, Soviet-style mooncakes, Taiwanese-style mooncakes, Yunnan-style mooncakes, Hong Kong-style mooncakes, Chaozhou-style mooncakes, Anhui-style mooncakes, Qu-style mooncakes, Qin-style mooncakes, and even Japanese style, etc.; in terms of taste, there are sweet, salty, salty-sweet, and spicy; in terms of fillings, there are osmanthus mooncakes, prune mooncakes, five kernels, bean paste, rock sugar, black sesame, ham mooncakes, and egg yolk mooncakes. etc.; according to the cake crust, there are pulp crust, mixed sugar crust, meringue crust, cream crust; in terms of shape, there are glossy and lace crusts.

Characteristics of mooncakes from various origins:

Cantonese-style mooncakes: thin, soft, sweet, and delicious fillings

Suzhou-style mooncakes: crispy, crispy, Overlapping layers of crispy cakes, heavy in oil but not greasy, sweet and salty

Beijing-style mooncakes: exquisite appearance, thin and soft skin, distinct layers, attractive flavor

Chaozhou-style mooncakes: heavy in oil Sugar, soft texture

Dian-style mooncakes: crispy skin and beautiful fillings, moderate sweetness and saltiness, bright yellow color, oily but not greasy

Anhui-style mooncakes: small and exquisite, white as jade, skin Crispy and filling

Qu-style mooncakes: crispy, fragrant and delicious, made with sesame seeds

Among them, Cantonese-style mooncakes are distinguished by their exquisite materials, fine craftsmanship and rigorous production. The skin is thin and soft, the color is golden, the patterns are exquisite and embossed, the shape is beautiful, the fillings are large and oily, the fillings are diverse, the quality is stable, the flavor is pure, the flavor is sweet and delicious, and the aftertaste is endless, making it the leader of the mooncake family. It makes consumers from different social classes, different income levels and different life tastes covet it, forming a trend of Cantonese-style mooncakes being eaten by the whole country, regardless of the country's north or south, people regardless of age. Even overseas Chinese and students living overseas, as far away as Japan, Southeast Asia, and as far away as Australia and the United States, all regard Cantonese-style mooncakes as a must-have for enjoying the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Cantonese-style mooncakes are currently the largest type of mooncakes. They originated in Guangdong and surrounding areas and are now popular all over the country. They are characterized by thin skin and large fillings. Usually the skin-to-filling ratio is 2:8, and the skin-filling has a high oil content. For other categories, the taste is soft and smooth, and the surface is shiny. The outstanding representatives are the white lotus paste mooncakes from Guangzhou Lianxianglou and Guangzhou Restaurant, as well as the Ligong Tangerine Peel Mooncake from Jiangmen.

Beijing-style mooncakes.

Beijing-style mooncakes originated from Beijing, Tianjin and surrounding areas, and have a certain market in the north. Its main characteristics are moderate sweetness and skin-to-filling ratio. Generally, the skin-to-filling ratio is 4:6. It mainly focuses on the special flavor of the fillings and has a crispy texture. The main products include Beijing Daoxiang Village's homemade red mooncakes, taped white mooncakes, and five-nut mooncakes.

Suzhou-style mooncakes. Su-style mooncakes originated in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and surrounding areas. Their main characteristics are loose crust, fillings such as five kernels and bean paste, and are sweeter than other mooncakes. The main products include Su-style mooncakes produced by Hangzhou Limin, etc. .

Dian-style mooncakes. Yunnan-style mooncakes mainly originated and became popular in Yunnan, Guizhou and surrounding areas, and are now gradually becoming popular among consumers in other regions. Its main features are that the fillings are made of Yunnan-style ham, the crust is loose, the fillings are salty and sweet, and it has a unique Yunnan-style ham flavor, the main product is Yunnan ham mooncakes produced by Kunming Ji Qingxiang.

Qu-style mooncakes are self-contained and a local specialty of Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province. It is characterized by using sesame as an important raw material, so Qu-style mooncakes are also called "Quzhou sesame cakes". Its main representatives include "Duze Osmanthus Mooncake" and "Shao Yongfeng Sesame Cake", a century-old Chinese brand.

Anhui-style mooncakes have a puff pastry skin, which is made by mixing fine flour and vegetable oil. The cake flame is made of wild vegetables (bitter cabbage), which has been pickled and mixed with fresh pork suet and white sugar. Become. The main representative is "Plumb Mooncake".

Other styles of mooncakes are relatively small in quantity. "Every year on the moonlit night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the cakes are different every year." In recent years, new styles of mooncakes have emerged one after another. Such as snow skin mooncakes, ice cream mooncakes, fruit and vegetable mooncakes, seafood mooncakes, coconut milk mooncakes, tea mooncakes, etc. Let's take a look at today's new mooncakes:

*Snowskin mooncakes: The characteristic is that the crust does not need to be baked and can be eaten after freezing. It mainly has a transparent milky white skin, but also has purple, green, red, yellow and other colors. The taste is very different and the appearance is very harmonious and interesting.

*Ice cream mooncakes: Made entirely of ice cream, just using mooncake molds. August 15th is already the Mid-Autumn Festival but the heat has not completely gone away. It is delicious and refreshing, and it is also a popular choice for many consumers. Among them, the most cost-effective is Baxi Ice Cream Mooncake, while Haagen-Dazs is the most expensive ice cream mooncake because of its reputation as the "Rolls-Royce of Ice Cream"

*Fruit and vegetable mooncakes: characterized by fillings The fillings are mainly fruits and vegetables, with soft fillings and different flavors. The fillings include cantaloupe, pineapple, lychee, strawberry, winter melon, taro, black plum, orange, etc., and are paired with juice or pulp, so it has a fresher and sweeter flavor. .

*Seafood mooncakes: These are relatively expensive mooncakes, including abalone, shark's fin, seaweed, stingray sticks, etc. The taste is slightly salty and famous for its sweet aroma.

* Cool Mooncake: It is made by blending lily, mung bean and tea into the mooncake filling. It is the latest innovation and has the effect of refreshing and beautifying.

*Coconut milk mooncakes: The fillings are made of freshly squeezed coconut juice, evaporated milk and melon and fruits. They have low sugar and oil content. They have a sweet taste and rich coconut flavor, which leaves a lingering texture in your mouth. fragrant. It has the functions of refreshing, nourishing the stomach and beautifying the skin.

*Tea mooncake: also known as the new tea ceremony mooncake, with new green tea as the main filling, the taste is light and slightly fragrant. There is a kind of tea paste mooncake, which is made of oolong tea juice mixed with lotus paste, which is more fresh.

*Healthy mooncakes: These are functional mooncakes that only appeared the year before last, including ginseng mooncakes, calcium mooncakes, medicated mooncakes, iodine-containing mooncakes, etc.

*Golden Cream Mooncake: The crust is full of cream, golden in color and has an excellent taste.

*Mini mooncakes: The main shape is small and exquisite, and the production method is exquisite.

Multigrain mooncakes: The raw materials are made of whole grains, which are delicious, healthy and fashionable. The Xibei whole grain mooncakes launched by Xibei Catering Group are the most representative.

Edit this paragraph Customs from various places

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, people's main activities are to admire the moon and eat moon cakes.

Moon Appreciation

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, our country has had the custom of appreciating the moon since ancient times. The "Book of Rites" records that "Autumn Twilight and Evening Moon" means worshiping the moon god. By the Zhou Dynasty, every Mid-Autumn Festival night would be held to welcome the cold and worship the moon. Set up a large incense table and place mooncakes, watermelons, apples, plums, grapes and other seasonal fruits. Mooncakes and watermelons are absolutely indispensable. The watermelon should also be cut into lotus shapes.

In the Tang Dynasty, admiring and playing with the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival was quite popular.

In the Song Dynasty, the custom of enjoying the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival became even more popular. According to "Tokyo Menghua Lu", "On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, noble families decorated their terraces and pavilions, and people competed in restaurants to enjoy the moon." On this day, all shops and restaurants in the capital will redecorate their facades, tie up silk and hang colorful decorations on the archways, and sell fresh fruits and refined foods. The night market is bustling with people, and many people go to the balcony. Appreciate the moon in the pavilion, place food or arrange a family banquet, reunite the children, and talk to each other while admiring the moon.

After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the custom of appreciating the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival remained unchanged. In many places, special customs such as burning incense sticks, planting Mid-Autumn trees, lighting tower lanterns, releasing sky lanterns, walking on the moon, and dancing fire dragons were formed.

Eating moon cakes

People in both urban and rural areas of our country have the custom of eating moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival. As the saying goes: "August and fifteenth are full, and Mid-Autumn moon cakes are fragrant and sweet." Moon cakes were originally used as sacrifices to worship the moon god. The word "moon cake" was first seen in "Meng Liang Lu" written by Wu Zimu in the Southern Song Dynasty. At that time, it was just a cake-shaped food like caltrop cake. Later, people gradually combined the Mid-Autumn moon appreciation with the tasting of mooncakes, which symbolized family reunion.

Mooncakes were originally made at home. Yuan Mei of the Qing Dynasty recorded the making of mooncakes in the "Sui Yuan Food List". In modern times, there have been workshops specializing in making mooncakes. The production of mooncakes has become more and more sophisticated, with sophisticated fillings and beautiful appearance. Various exquisite patterns are printed on the outside of the mooncakes, such as "Chang'e Flying to the Moon", "Galaxy" "Yueyue", "Three Pools Reflecting the Moon", etc. The roundness of the moon signifies people's reunion, and the roundness of cakes signifies people's eternal life. Mooncakes are used to convey the feeling of missing one's hometown and relatives, and to pray for a good harvest and happiness. These have become the wishes of people all over the world. Mooncakes are also used as gifts for relatives. Friends, contact feelings.

Other Mid-Autumn Festival customs

China has a vast territory, a large population, and different customs. The ways to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival are also diverse and have strong local characteristics.

In Pucheng, Fujian, women have to cross the Nanpu Bridge during the Mid-Autumn Festival in order to live longer. In Jianning, hanging lanterns on the Mid-Autumn Festival night is a good omen to ask for a child from the Moon Palace. People in Shanghang County celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, and most of their children ask the moon aunt when they worship the moon. When Longyan people eat moon cakes, parents will dig out a round cake with a diameter of two or three inches in the center for the elders to eat, which means that secrets cannot be known to the younger generations. This custom stems from the legend that mooncakes contain anti-Yuan messages to kill enemies. Before worshiping the moon during the Kinmen Mid-Autumn Festival, you must first worship God.

In Chaoshan, Guangdong, there is a custom of worshiping the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival, mainly for women and children. There is a common saying that "men do not worship the full moon, women do not worship the stove". In the evening, when the bright moon rises, women set up tables in the courtyard and on the balcony to pray in the air. Silver candles were burning high, incense was lingering, and the table was filled with fruits and cakes as offerings. There is also a local custom of eating taro during the Mid-Autumn Festival. There is a proverb in Chaoshan: "When the river and stream meet the mouth, the taro will be eaten." August is the taro harvest season, and farmers are accustomed to using taro to worship their ancestors. Although this is related to farming, there is also a widely circulated legend among the people: In 1279, the Mongolian nobles destroyed the Southern Song Dynasty, established the Yuan Dynasty, and brutally ruled the Han people. Ma Fa defended Chaozhou against the Yuan Dynasty. After the city was broken, the people were massacred. In order not to forget the suffering of the Hu people's rule, later generations used taro, which is homophonic with "beard head" and resembles a human head, to pay homage to their ancestors. This has been passed down from generation to generation and still exists today.

Burning pagodas on Mid-Autumn Festival is also very popular in some places. The tower height ranges from 1 to 3 meters, and is mostly built with broken tiles. Large towers are also built with bricks, accounting for about 1/4 of the tower height, and then stacked tiles, leaving a The tower mouth is used for putting fuel. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, fires are lit, and the fuel includes wood, bamboo, chaff, etc. When the fire is strong, rosin powder is poured on it to ignite the flames, which is very spectacular. There are also folk rules for burning pagodas. Whoever burns the pagoda until the whole pagoda is red will win. The one who fails to do so or collapses during the burning process will lose. The winner will be given colorful flags, bonuses or prizes by the host. It is said that the burning of pagodas is also the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival uprising in which the Han people resisted the brutal rulers in the late Yuan Dynasty and used fire as a sign.

Folks in the Jiangnan area also have various customs during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Nanjing people love to eat mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and they must eat Jinling’s famous dish, osmanthus duck. "Osmanthus duck" is on the market when osmanthus is fragrant. It is fat but not greasy and delicious. After drinking, you must eat a small amount of sugar taro and pour it with cinnamon syrup. It goes without saying that it is delicious. "Guangxi Pulp" is named after Qu Yuan's "Songs of the Chu: Shao Siming" "Help the North be closed and drink Guangxi Pulp". Guijiang, also known as sugar osmanthus, is picked around the Mid-Autumn Festival and pickled with sugar and sour plums. Jiangnan women are skillful in turning the things chanted in poems into delicacies on the table. Nanjing people call it "celebrating reunion" when they enjoy the moon with their families, "full moon" when they sit together and drink together, and "walking on the moon" when they go out to the market.

In the early Ming Dynasty, Nanjing built the Moon Tower and the Moon Bridge. In the Qing Dynasty, the Moon Tower was built under the Lion Mountain, both for people to admire the moon, and those who visited the Moon Bridge were the most popular. When the moon is high in the sky, people go to the Moon Tower and visit the Moon Bridge together, and enjoy seeing the Jade Rabbit. "Wanyue Bridge" is located in the Confucius Temple in Qinhuai, Henan. Next to the bridge is the residence of Ma Xianglan, a famous prostitute. That night, scholars gathered at the bridge to play the sheng and Xiao, reminiscing about Niuzhu playing with the moon and composing poems to the moon, so it was called the Wanyue Bridge. . After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, it gradually declined, and later generations had poems to write about it: "Fengliu Nanqu has been sold out, leaving only the West Wind Long Banqiao, but I recall the jade man sitting on the bridge, teaching me how to play the flute against the bright moon." Changbanqiao is the original Wanyue Bridge. In recent years, Nanjing Confucius Temple has been renovated, restoring some pavilions from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and dredging the river. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, you can come together to enjoy the fun of moonlighting here.

In Wuxi County, Jiangsu Province, incense sticks are burned on the Mid-Autumn Festival night. The incense cup is surrounded by gauze and silk, with scenes from the Moon Palace painted on it. There are also incense buckets made of incense threads, with Kuixing and colorful flags tied with paper inserted on them. The Shanghainese Mid-Autumn Festival feast is served with sweet-scented osmanthus honey wine.

In Ji'an County, Jiangxi Province, on the evening of the Mid-Autumn Festival, every village uses straw to burn earthen pots. After the crock is hot, add vinegar. At this time, the fragrance will fill the whole village. During the Mid-Autumn Festival in Xincheng County, grass lanterns are hung from the night of August 11th until August 17th.

On the Mid-Autumn Festival in Wuyuan, Anhui Province, children build a hollow pagoda with bricks and tiles. Decorations such as curtains and plaques are hung on the tower. A table is placed in front of the tower and various utensils for worshiping the "God of the Tower" are displayed. At night, lights are lit both inside and outside. Children in Jixi play Mid-Autumn Festival cannons. Mid-Autumn Cannon is made of straw tied into a braid, soaked and then picked up and struck on a stone to make a loud noise and a fire dragon custom. The fire dragon is a dragon made of grass with incense sticks stuck on its body. During the Fire Dragon Tour, a gong and drum team accompanied them, and they visited various villages before being sent to the river.

In addition to eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, people in Sichuan Province also make cakes, kill ducks, and eat sesame cakes, honey cakes, etc. In some places, orange lanterns are also lit and hung at the door to celebrate. There are also children who put incense on the grapefruit and dance it along the street, which is called "Dancing Meteor Incense Ball". During the Mid-Autumn Festival in Jiading County, people worship the Earth God, perform dramas, vocal music and cultural relics, which is called "watching party".

In the north, farmers in Qingyun County, Shandong Province worship the God of Earth and Valley on August 15th, which is called "Qingmiao Society". In Zhucheng, Linyi, Jimo and other places, in addition to worshiping the moon, they also have to visit their graves to worship their ancestors. Landlords in Guanxian, Laiyang, Guangrao and Youcheng also entertained their tenants during the Mid-Autumn Festival. During the Jimo Mid-Autumn Festival, a festival food called "Mai Arrow" is eaten. Lu'an, Shanxi Province, hosted a banquet for their son-in-law during the Mid-Autumn Festival. In Datong County, mooncakes are called reunion cakes, and there is a custom of keeping vigil on Mid-Autumn Night.

Wanquan County in Hebei Province calls the Mid-Autumn Festival "Little New Year's Day". On the moonlight paper, there are figures of the Lunar Star King and Emperor Guan reading the Spring and Autumn Festival at night. People in Hejian County believe that the Mid-Autumn rain is bitter rain. If it rains during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the locals believe that the vegetables must taste bad.

On the Mid-Autumn Festival night in Xixiang County, Shaanxi Province, a man went boating and climbed a cliff, while the woman arranged a banquet. Regardless of whether you are rich or poor, you must eat watermelon. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, there are drummers who play drums along the door to ask for rewards. During the Mid-Autumn Festival in Luochuan County, parents led their students to bring gifts to pay homage to their husbands, and there were more lunches than on-campus dinners.

Many special Mid-Autumn Festival customs have also been formed in some places. In addition to appreciating the moon, offering sacrifices to the moon, and eating moon cakes, there are also fire dragon dances in Hong Kong, pagodas in Anhui, tree Mid-Autumn Festival in Guangzhou, burning pagodas in Jinjiang, watching the moon at Shihu Lake in Suzhou, moon worship by the Dai people, and moon dancing by the Miao people. , Dong people’s moon-stealing vegetables, Gaoshan people’s ball dance, etc.

Changsha Mid-Autumn Festival Mooncake Custom

The golden breeze blows coolly, the osmanthus fragrants, and it is the time of year to eat mooncakes. This year’s Mid-Autumn Festival falls on September 18th. I heard the old man tell some old stories about mooncakes in old Changsha.

Changsha Nanshifang actually starts preparations for making mooncakes after the beginning of spring. In a society with a strong agricultural flavor, the pace of production is never too fast. Nanshifang first needs a long period of time to process and reserve the raw materials for mooncakes. For example, the five kernels in fruit ingredients: melon kernels, hemp kernels, and olive kernels must be shelled, and peach kernels and peanut kernels must be peeled after shelling; in the period before the Mid-Autumn Festival, fresh lard must be fried, and ham, The lean meat strips must be cut into cubes, and the bean paste, lotus paste, and jujube paste must be cooked or fried. Starting from the seventh month of the lunar calendar, when the summer heat is fading away, mooncakes have been on the market in Changsha, and the business has been booming day by day, until the time of August and fifteenth when the Thousand Miles Round comes to visit Chanjuan.

Moon cakes after the festival are just like today, "Autumn fans are donated, and no one cares about them." Before the 1930s, Changsha only had three types of mooncakes on the market: "Youyue", "Ma Yue" and "Bosuyue". Jiuruzhai’s “Su style” and Sanjizhai’s “Shao style” are the most famous. There are only a few mooncake colors, such as "seed", "crystal", "five kernels", "dried vegetables" and "ham".

In the mid-1930s, the Cantonese restaurant Nanguo Restaurant opened in Changsha, and Cantonese-style mooncakes became popular in Changsha. Because of their thin skin and rich fillings, they used unique ingredients, especially "lotus paste and egg yolk" and so on. The variety, moist and refreshing, is very popular among Changsha diners. Since then, the imported "Guangyue" and "Youyue" have been equally popular in the Changsha mooncake market during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

In addition to eating moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival in Changsha, people also like to eat water chestnuts and lotus roots. When admiring the moon, they also eat mung bean cakes and mint cakes. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, couplets are also hung in the homes of officials. For example, there is a couplet hanging in front of a mansion, which says: "Qiongyu is so cold, he holds out a moon shadow; the curling stone is bright and clear, and the five nights of heaven are equally divided."

Edit the nutritional value of this paragraph

Mooncake fillings mostly use plant-based raw material seeds, such as walnut kernels, almonds, sesame seeds, melon seeds, hawthorn, lotus paste, red beans, jujube paste, etc. , which has certain health effects on the human body. Plant seeds are high in unsaturated fatty acids, mostly oleic acid and linoleic acid, which are good for softening blood vessels and preventing arteriosclerosis; they contain minerals, which are good for improving immunity and preventing zinc deficiency and iron deficiency anemia in children; lotus seeds and red beans , Sesame seeds are very high in potassium, which can replace sodium salts in cells, nourish the heart muscle, and regulate blood pressure. From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, some raw materials are mostly mild in nature, strengthening the heart, calming, and calming the nerves. Some seeds are rich in vitamin E, which is anti-aging and nourishing. Skin, black beard and hair. However, mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, and mooncakes filled with duck egg yolk are high in cholesterol. Generally speaking, they are high-calorie foods and should not be eaten by diabetics and obese people.

Edit this paragraph to purchase

1. Look at the brand and try to choose products from famous and time-honored brands. (For example: Golden Family Circle)

2. Look at the trademark and buy products with complete production labels and specifications.

3. Look at the production date and shelf life.

4. Beware: "Sugar-free" mooncakes do not exist

Identification:

Look at the appearance. First of all, the mooncakes are uniform in size and plump. The surface of Cantonese-style mooncakes is light brown, the vertical wall is creamy yellow, the egg paste is evenly applied, and the pattern is marked with the factory name and filling core. Beijing-style mooncakes have no pattern or product name. For example, the skin of tapioca bread is brown and yellow, not bare, not raw or mushy, and does not contain any sugar or filling.

Second smell. Mooncakes with fresh quality can emit a unique and tangy fragrance of mooncakes. Due to different raw materials, the fillings have different fragrances. If the mooncakes are made with low-quality raw materials or stored for a long time, they will smell a strange smell or smell.

The third is tasting. Generally, Cantonese-style mooncakes have thin crust and large fillings, pure taste, soft and refreshing texture. The filling is mainly made of lotus paste, coconut paste, egg yolk, fruit and various meat fillings, and is moderately sweet and salty. The fillings of Beijing-style mooncakes are delicate and complicated to make. There are four types of mooncake skins: oil skin, puff pastry, pulp skin and Jingguang skin; the filling core is divided into three categories: kneaded filling, fried filling and rubbed filling. The filling core contains more fruit ingredients, which can be seen after cutting. From peach kernels, melon kernels, hemp kernels, osmanthus flowers, green and red silk threads and various fruit ingredients, the red mooncakes also contain rock sugar, which makes them taste crispy, soft and delicate. Low-quality mooncakes not only have tough skin and lack of crispy fillings, but also often have a bitter taste.

Storage:

The fillings of mooncakes are generally divided into soft and hard fillings. Soft fillings contain more water and can only be stored for about 7 to 10 days, while mooncakes with hard fillings Can be stored for about 1 month. For boxed mooncakes, the lid should be opened to allow ventilation. In addition, because mooncakes contain a lot of fat, you should also avoid light when storing them to prevent oxidation of the oil.

Mooncakes should be handled with care, especially Soviet-style mooncakes that are most easily broken due to their crispy skin. If the cake peels off, it will not only affect the appearance, but also affect the taste and quality, and it will be susceptible to moisture and deterioration.

Mooncakes are rich in fat and sugar, and are prone to mold and deterioration when exposed to heat and moisture, so mooncakes must be stored in a cool, cool, and ventilated place. Generally speaking, mooncakes have soft skin, high water content, and are prone to spoilage. It is best to put the mooncakes and packaging box in the refrigerator and take them out one hour before eating to ensure their taste.

At a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius, mooncakes with fillings such as almonds and mints can be stored for about 15 days; mooncakes with fillings such as bean paste, lotus paste, and jujube paste should not be stored for more than 10 days; if the temperature exceeds 30 degrees Celsius, the mooncakes must be stored The time should be shortened appropriately, generally not more than 7 days; as for moon cakes such as fresh meat, shredded chicken, ham, etc., they should be eaten as often as they are bought.

When storing mooncakes, they should not be placed together with other foods and sundries to avoid odor transfer and loss of their proper taste and characteristics.

Beware: "Sugar-free" mooncakes do not exist

Sucrose has been replaced by maltose

Currently, the market is flooded with "sugar-free" mooncakes, as fat-containing mooncakes Mooncakes with low quantity and starch content will undoubtedly allow consumers to eat healthier. However, the Municipal Consumers Association reminds: Sugar-free foods in the true sense do not exist. Some "sugar-free" mooncakes actually replace sucrose with maltose, while some mooncakes add large doses of unqualified sweeteners. Although they can obtain a sweet taste, they will cause harm to the human liver and nervous system. cause harm.

Consumers should also pay attention to mooncakes that incorporate fashionable foods such as chocolate, cheese, ice cream, and fruits, and even incorporate fresh elements such as deep-frying, pan-frying, and charcoal cooking. , although mooncakes are fresh, it is difficult to guarantee whether they are fresh in terms of quality and hygiene. At the same time, due to the addition of fashionable elements, these mooncakes are often sold at a disguised high price. ”

There are many problems with mooncake consumption

<. p> For example, the packaging of mooncakes is too luxurious, and a box of 8 small mooncakes sells for 200 yuan, which is too expensive; waste occurs from time to time. Many consumers do not really like eating mooncakes, but they buy them in large quantities to give to relatives and friends, resulting in Some of the uneaten mooncakes have expired and gone bad, resulting in an alarming waste. A few consumers have not mastered the variety and quantity of mooncakes to eat, and eating mooncakes can actually affect their health.

The "Mandatory National Standard for Mooncakes" has regulations on excessive packaging, luxurious packaging, and sky-high price of mooncakes. Taking 500 grams as an example, the specific dimensions of mooncakes are approximately 30 cm long, 15 cm wide, and 2.5 cm high. With a similar ratio, the retail price should remain between 100-200 yuan. At the same time, the country has clearly stipulated that the fillings used in moon cakes must be genuine. When using "newly created names", "unique names", "trade names", "brand names", etc., the accurate name indicating the true attributes of the product should be indicated at the same time. Only the code name, Chinese pinyin or foreign abbreviation name shall not be marked.

Quality is the first choice when buying mooncakes

Consumers Association staff remind citizens: When buying and eating mooncakes, you should choose mooncakes that suit your own health requirements and taste, and do not blindly pursue mooncakes with luxurious packaging. , you must know that the most expensive is not necessarily the best! At the same time, you should also carefully check the logo on the mooncake packaging, carefully check the trademark, factory name and address, production date, shelf life, and contact number marked on the mooncake packaging. Do not buy "three noes" products and products that are close to their shelf life. The surface of high-quality mooncakes is golden, the bottom is reddish brown, the walls are milky white, the fire color is uniform, and the skin has the luster of egg liquid and grease; inferior mooncakes do not have the above characteristics. Judging from the shape, high-quality mooncakes are round in shape, even in thickness, with clear patterns, no cracks on the surface, and no filling exposed; inferior mooncakes are uneven in size, with serious sugar leakage and filling. In terms of taste, high-quality mooncakes have appropriate sweetness, the fillings are oily and delicate, not sticky, and have a fragrant smell without any peculiar smell; the opposite is true for inferior mooncakes.