One thing you learn when you travel is that people are different – they have different dreams and different ways to achieve them, different values and different fears. But in all this glorious diversity, there are some things that we share and that unite us; one of them – the way we celebrate. No matter the latitude, the language, the climate, when festive times arrive, families gather, friends come together and food covers the tables. The Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival is no different.
Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. Why then? Nature chose this dare – this is the time when rice (what else could it be!) ripens and has to be harvested. But harvesting rice sure sounds like lot of work, doesn’t it? Maybe so, but the Mid-Autumn festival means long holidays!
This time off is much needed to reunite with family members living in different parts of the country and the world. During the Mid-Autumn festival everybody travels, everybody heads home. I remember once visiting a railways station during the said festival in a mid-sized Chinese town, the name of which I forgot – the sheer number of people I saw could only be matched by crowds at massive stadium concerts of rock and pop stars.
Once they reach it, they gather together to express gratitude for a successful rice harvest and pay homage to… the moon. Earth’s nearest neighbor symbolizes unity and harmony in the family. After all, when you miss someone, all you need to do is gaze at the moon – somewhere out there the one that you miss will be looking at the exact same moon as you.
To celebrate the moon, “moon cakes” are made. Perfectly round (like the moon, obviously) and filled with a sweet lotus seed paste (like the moon? Maybe!), they are made at homes but also available at shops across Asia. Moon cake shaped ice-cream, moon-cake buffets – if you celebrate, celebrate to the full!
And so, when the family reunites to spend time together and share food, fables and hugs, it sure feels like Christmas, like Hanukkah… or like the Mid-Autumn festival.
We wish you a happy Mid-Autumn festival and present you with NAA’s own list of best places to try the best moon cakes in Singapore and Hong Kong for a truly exquisite festive time.
SINGAPORE
St Regis
St Regis celebrates this year’s festival with a mooncakes’ selection featuring such delicacies as a Pure ‘Mao Shan Wang’ Durian Indulgence Snow Skin Mooncake with rich luscious chunks of the premium-grade majestic tropical fruit, exuding robust flavours and alluring aromas. Making a debut is the Pomegranate Truffle with Red Bean Chendol Paste Snow Skin Mooncake. Another enticing introduction is the Purple Sweet Potato with Water Chestnut and Salted Yam Paste Snow Skin Mooncake – lightly sweet and enhanced with water chestnut bits. For more details:
yantingrestaurant.com/en/midautumn2016
FOUR SEASONS
This year’s mooncakes’ selection at Four Seasons includes such treats as smoked duck with assorted nuts and lime baked skin mooncake, the limited edition Heaven on Earth snow skin mooncake infused with the restaurant’s exclusive Heaven on Earth cocktail in a light 1 percent alcohol content, a well-loved classic silver lotus paste with double yolks and melon seeds and silver lotus paste with single yolk and melon seeds mooncakes and the non-yolk silver lotus paste with honey and pine nuts, and many more. For more details:
press.fourseasons.com/singapore/hotel-news/2016/mooncakes/
MARRIOTT TANG SINGAPORE
Marriott Tang offers a collection of 11 different low-sugar mooncake creations inclining the crowd favourites – the White Lotus Seed Paste Golden Baked Mooncake with Black Truffle, Waxed Duck, Roasted Chestnut & Single Yolk as well as Wan Hao’s signature White Lotus Seed Paste Baked Mooncake with Chicken Bak-Kwah & Assorted Nuts. New snowskin mooncake flavours this year include the Chocolate Brownie with Cookies & Honeycomb as well as the Salted Caramel with Peanut Praline. For more details:
theshutterwhale.com/blog/2016/7/5/mid-autumn-festival-2016-at-wan-hao-singapore-marriott-tang-plaza-hotel
MANDARIN ORIENTAL
At Mandarin Oriental the extravagant selection includes the ever popular Baked Mooncake with Single/Double Yolk and White Lotus Paste, a lower sugar variety Baked Mooncake with Macadamia Nuts and Low Sugar White Lotus Paste for the health conscious as well as the signature Baked Mooncake with Mixed Nuts and Jamón Ibérico, upping the traditional recipe with premium Spanish ham. Alternatively, the Baked Mooncake with Azuki Red Bean Paste and Pine Nuts will satisfy even the fussiest vegetarian. For more details:
http://darrenbloggie.com/2016/07/18/mandarin-orchard-singapore-unveils-sweet-mid-autumn-treats/
HONG KONG
THE PENINSULA
Peninsula takes the Mid-Autumn festival online offering its limited edition, mini egg custard mooncakes on its website. The online ordering platform will be available for three days from 1 to 3 August and is designed to enable customers to conveniently buy Spring Moon’s mini egg custard mooncakes from the comfort of their computer. The mooncake itself is light and delicate but nature of the ingredients used for the filling are a closely guarded secret. For more details:
news.peninsula.com/en/news/story/12496-the-heat-is-on-at-spring-moon-as-the-kitchen-prepares-for-mooncake-season-2/
INTERCONTINENTAL
From the classics such as White Lotus Seed Purée Mooncakes with Double Yolk, Mini Egg Custard Mooncakes and Mini Purple Sweet Potato with Chestnuts Mooncakes to the contemporary incarnation – the Trio Whisky Chocolate featuring around-the-globe single malt whiskies: Glengoyne Cask Strength from Scotland, Kavalan Solist Ex-Bourbon Cask from Taiwan and Mars Komagatake from Japan, the mooncakes at Intercontinental are second to none.
hongkong.intercontinental.com/en/promotions-and-offers/mooncake-2016/
THE LANGHAM
Langham’s White Lotus Seed with Double Egg Yolks, Mini Custard with Egg Yolk, and Deluxe Mini Mooncake are presented in an all-new design and to make them more available, can be ordered online.
For more details:
http://www.langhamhotels.com/en/the-langham/hong-kong/dining/tang-court/
http://www.langhamhotels.com/en/the-langham/hong-kong/dining/tang-court/
W HONG KONG
At the W traditional mooncakes get a modern-day makeover taking inspiration from the iconic glow of Hong Kong’s moonlit night scene. The hotel’s mooncake tin box is a modern reflection of the city’s sophisticated and sensual ambience.
For more details:
http://www.w-hongkong.com/midautumnfestival
