Marking the end of harvest, Mid-Autumn Festival remained a traditional way of thanksgiving to the Gods with moon-viewing parties bring together families and friends in Singapore.
Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated when the moon is at its brightest. The legend goes like this: Chang Er, the wife of a tyrant king, to save her subjects from torture, drank the elixir of immortality, which the king intended to drink and this made her emerge as a Goddess. Since then she is worshipped as the Moon Goddess.
Since the Mid-Autumn Festival is all about lunar appreciation, the celebration starts in full swing once the sun goes down.
Moon Cakes are the highlight of the festival. Legends say that in order to free Yuan China from Mongol rule, rebels organised an uprising by passing messages hidden in these seasonal sweets. Today, a variety of Mooncakes, starting from the traditional ones with lotus seed paste and egg yolk to snow skinned ones filled with champagne to the chocolate truffle, are available in restaurants.
IBTimes brings you a list of lip-smacking mooncakes that are available in various restaurants in Singapore.
Hua Ting
It has been two decades since Hua Ting has introduced white lotus seed paste with single yolk and macadamia nuts. These unique ingredients give the cake a smooth silky texture and a nutty flavour.
This flavour is in much demand where the customers book 50 boxes, well in advance according to Amy Huang, the marketing head of the Orchid Hotel.
Xin Cuisine Chinese Restaurant
Chef Dim Sum mastered the art of mini egg custard with yolk, 28-years-ago before it was introduced in Singapore. He experimented this new recipe because he wanted people to try a unique traditional recipe rather than average lotus seeds pastes filling. He layered it with smooth, creamy custard balanced with the saltiness of egg yolk and covered it with light pastry.
Mooncake takes around six to seven hours to get prepared if all the ingredients are well balanced. Singaporeans buy around 1500 boxes every year from Xin Cuisine Chinese Restaurant.
Crystal Jade
Crystal Jade has been selling mixed nuts and chicken Ham mooncakes for more than 20 years now.Till today mixed nuts and chicken Ham mooncakes are one of the top-selling products of this restaurant
These mooncakes are the perfect balance of sweet and savoury and are crafted by the head chefs and their expert team.
Tung Lok
Tung Lok chefs wanted to present a different variety of mooncake to the customers and thus came up with white lotus and red lotus cakes (perfect duo) eight years ago. Their pretty boxes contain double –yolk white lotus and double – yolk red lotus, which is painstakingly prepared by the experienced team of 'mooncake masters '
According to the marketing manager Lau Li Li, the restaurant sells about 6,000 boxes every year.
Peony Jade
Peony Jade re-introduced traditional recipe of Flaky 'Orh Ni' Mooncake with Single or Double Yolk mooncake in 2009. The mooncakes were earlier made in Crown Prince Hotel in 1988.
Today, Peony Jade has mastered the art of the original recipe without added preservatives and with delicious flaky pastry and decadent Yam filling.
Robert Han, the general manager of the Quaside group tells that after the reintroduction of the mooncake the sale has increased about 20- 30%.
Raffles Hotel
Raffles are known for their handmade mooncake paying homage to the celestial tradition. They are tried and tested with delectable flavors.
