Celebrate Tuesday's full moon with Chinese mooncakes: Jasmine Mangalaseril

In the Chinese lunar calendar, the Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the eighth month. It's when the full moon appears, usually around the time of autumnal equinox.

For those who follow the Gregorian calendar, the festival falls mid-September to early October. This year it will be on Tuesday, Sept. 17.

"It's more like Thanksgiving in Western culture," said Yan Li, who's active in Waterloo region's Chinese community.

"Our family members gather together and just celebrate and worship the moon. So, the Mid-Autumn Festival, we also call the Moon Festival."

Here's how mooncakes are filled and decorated

24 days ago

Duration 2:05

The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on Sept. 17, which is the day of the super harvest moon. Some members of Waterloo region's Chinese community share mooncakes on this day as they exchange good wishes. Because of this, the festival is also called the Mooncake Festival. Qirui Zhang demonstrates how to stuff a mooncake with a ham filling.

While families share a meal indoors, for many, the real celebration is outside.

When they see the low-hanging moonthey thank the Moon Goddess, Chang'e,for the harvest as they recite poemsand light candles. As they share mooncakes, they exchange good wishes. Because of this, the festival is also called the Mooncake Festival.

According to Li, Chang'e was once a beautiful woman who drank the elixir of life and flew to the moon. In some versions of the story, because the harvest moon shone brighter, her husband felt that she was watching over him. To honour herhe placed her favourite foods outside for her to see.

Dinneras diverse as the people

China is diversewith 56 official ethnicities living across a country almost as large as Canada. Because of this, Festival dinner traditions are as varied as the local harvests and traditions, including:

• Osmanthus Duck in Nanjing is braised, pickled, and dried duck simmered in a ginger, onion, and star anise broth, flavoured with osmanthus flowers.
• Water caltrops are in season in Hong Kong, with nuts that taste somewhat like roast chestnuts. They bring prosperity and cleverness.
• Since pomelos are believed to be Chang'e's favourite fruit, in Meizhou they're thought to bring blessings.

Giving thanks for the harvest

When Li's mother,Qirui Zhang, was a girl in Yunnan Province in the 1950s, the village would throw a Mooncake Festival celebration. Local crops like peanuts, pears, pomegranatesand yellow string beanswere laid on an outdoor harvest table.People would recite poems andlight candlesbeforea large mooncake was brought out.

"They will make huge round mooncakeexactly identical to the moon," said Zhang, as interpreted by Li.

"The whole village will come to share because then we can cut it off inpieces. Everyone has a little piece, then they feel like they've been blessed."

Mooncakes are a dense pastry that can be chewy, flaky, short crust-likeor crumbly and canfit in your palm. Along with thetraditional round shape, there are rectangularand square ones. Homemade ones can be formed by hand or shaped in ornate mooncake moulds.

Li explained the traditional round mooncake is important.

"We make the shape of the moon so the goddess will know thatwhen we make the moon [shape]we'll kind of worship her."

Regional variations

While manufacturers turn out mooncakes filled with a plethora of fillings, including strawberry, chocolateor peanuts,originally, they were a solid pastry.

There are a dozen regional styles, including:

• Suzhou-style: flaky pastry with sweet, floral, or salty fillings.
• Cantonese-style: soft with sweet or salty fillings including lotus seed paste, coconut paste, egg yolks, or meat.
• Chaoshan-style: crisp and flaky and a seafood filling is common.
• Beijing-style: crispy pastry with a sweet filling.

Yunnan style mooncakes

While Zhang visits her familyshe passes on traditionsincluding making mooncakes.

For plain ones, that are like shortbread biscuits, she mixes steamed flour with oil, water and brown sugar. She shapes the cakes in moulds and bakes them.

She also makes Yunnan's ham mooncakes. They are flaky, handmade pincushion-like cakes, filled with cured ham, walnuts, and brown sugar. Before baking, they're topped with sesame seeds and loose leaf tea.

"She's trying to keep the traditions," said Li. "So, every time she does something, she just copies from her memory, and then does the celebration. She's so glad that the grandchildren, even though they were born here, they can still enjoy the moment."