Mooncakes are a Chinese pastry traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Typical mooncakes are round or rectangular pastries, measuring about 10 cm in diameter and 4-5 cm thick. A thick filling usually made from lotus seed paste is surrounded by a relatively thin (2-3 mm) crust and may contain yolks from salted duck eggs. Mooncakes are rich, heavy, and dense compared with most Western cakes and pastries. They are usually eaten in small wedges accompanied by Chinese tea. Traditional Chinese characters refers to one of two standard sets of printed Chinese characters. ... Simplified Chinese character (Simplified Chinese: or ; traditional Chinese: or ; pinyin: or ) is one of two standard sets of Chinese characters of the contemporary Chinese written language. ... Pinyin, more formally called Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), is the most common variant of Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. ... Map of eastern China and Taiwan, showing the historic distribution of Mandarin Chinese in light brown. ... Pinyin, more formally called Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), is the most common variant of Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. ... This article is about all of the Cantonese (Yue) dialects. ... Jyutping (sometimes spelled Jyutpin) is a romanization system for Standard Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong (LSHK) in 1993. ... A display case in a Chinese bakery Cake garnished with sliced almonds Chinese bakeries in big cities like Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and across the world in Chinatowns, serve traditional Chinese goods (such as mooncakes, sun cakes, and wife cakes) and western-styled goods with a Chinese influence (such as... Japanese name Kanji: Kana: Korean name Hangul: Hanja: Vietnamese name Quốc ngữ: Chữ nôm: Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations in Victoria Park, Hong Kong. ... Lotus seed paste is a Chinese dessert ingredient made from dried lotus seed. ... The egg yolk is the yellow inside an egg. ... Salted duck eggs or salted eggs (鹹鴨蛋, xían yā dàn) is a Chinese preserved food product made by soaking duck eggs in brine, or packing each egg in damp salted charcoal. ... For other uses, see Density (disambiguation). ... An editor has expressed a concern that the tone or style of this section may not be appropriate for an encyclopedia. ...

Traditional

Most mooncakes are baked and consist of a thin tender skin enveloping a sweet and slightly oily filling. The mooncake may contain one or more whole salted egg yolks in its center to symbolize the full moon. The saltiness of the yolk balances well with the sweet filling in the mooncake. Rarely, mooncakes are steamed or fried.

Traditional mooncakes have an imprint on top consisting of the Chinese characters for "longevity" or "harmony" as well as the name of the bakery and filling in the moon cake. Imprints of a moon, a woman on the moon, flowers, vines, or a rabbit may surround the characters for additional decoration. Japanese name Kanji: Hiragana: Korean name Hangul: Hanja: Vietnamese name Quốc ngữ: Hán tá»±: A Chinese character or Han character (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) is a logogram used in writing Chinese, Japanese, sometimes Korean, and formerly Vietnamese. ... Longevity is a term that generally refers to long life or great duration of life.[1] Reflections on longevity have usually gone beyond acknowledging the basic shortness of human life and have included thinking about methods to extend life. ...

Mooncakes are expensive and considered a delicacy, and production is labor-intensive and few people make them at home. Most mooncakes are bought at Asian markets and bakeries. The price of mooncakes range from $10 to $50 (in US money). This is a List of delicacies. ... Exterior of Hong Kong Supermarket in Monterey Park, California, USA An Asian supermarket, sometimes called an Oriental supermarket, is a grocery store in non-Asian countries that stock items imported from the many countries in the Far east. ... Chinese bakeries in big cities like Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and across the world in Chinatowns, serve delicate pastries and delicious buns as well as tea, coffee and other drinks. ... USD redirects here. ...

Fillings

Many types of fillings can be found in traditional mooncakes according to the region's culture:

• Lotus seed paste (蓮蓉, lían róng): Considered by some to be the original and most luxurious mooncake filling, lotus paste filling is found in all types of mooncakes. Due to the high price of lotus paste, white kidney bean paste is sometimes used as a filler.
• Sweet bean paste (豆沙, dòu shā): A number of pastes are common fillings found in Chinese desserts. Although red bean paste, made from azuki beans, is the most common worldwide, there are regional and original preferences for bean paste made from Mung bean as well as black bean known throughout history.
• Jujube paste (棗泥, zǎo ní): A sweet paste made from the ripe fruits of the jujube plant. The paste is dark red in colour, a little fruity/smoky in flavour and slightly sour in taste. Depending on the quality of the paste, jujube paste may be confused with red bean paste.
• Five kernel (五仁, wǔ rén): A filling consisting of 5 types of nuts and seeds, coarsely chopped and held together with maltose syrup. Commonly used nuts and seeds include: walnuts, pumpkin seeds, watermelon seeds, peanuts, sesame, or almonds. In addition, the mixture will usually contain candied winter melon, chinese dried ham, or pieces of rock sugar as additional flavouring.

Lotus seed paste is a Chinese dessert ingredient made from dried lotus seed. ... Sweet bean paste is a food ingredient used in Asian cuisine. ... Japanese name Kanji: Korean name Hangul: Hanja: Red bean paste or Azuki bean paste is a sweet, dark red bean paste originating from China. ... Binomial name Vigna angularis (Willd. ... Binomial name (L.) R. Wilczek Synonyms Phaeolus aureus Roxb. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, the remainder of this article may require cleanup. ... Binomial name (L.) H. Karst. ... Maltose, or malt sugar, is a disaccharide formed from two units of glucose joined with an α(1→4) linkage. ... For other uses, see Walnut (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Pumpkin (disambiguation). ... For the political designation, see Eco-socialism. ... Binomial name L. This article is about the legume. ... Binomial name Sesamum indicum L. Sesame (Sesamum indicum) is a flowering plant in the genus Sesamum. ... Binomial name (Mill. ... Binomial name Thunb. ... Jinhua ham (金華火腿, 金华火腿; pinyin:jī huá huó tuí) is a type of dry-cured ham produced in Jinhua city, Zhejiang province of China. ... Rock candy is a type of confectionery composed of relatively large sugar crystals. ...

Crusts

Traditional mooncake vary widely depending on the region where the mooncake is produced. While most regions produce traditional mooncakes with many types of fillings, they usually only make their mooncake from one type of crust or another. Although vegetarian mooncakes may use vegetable oil, many mooncakes use lard in their recipes for an optimum mouthfeel. There are three types of mooncake crust used in Chinese cuisine: For animals adapted to eat primarily plants, sometimes referred to as vegetarian animals, see Herbivore. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with cooking oil. ... This article is about the fat. ...

• Chewy: This crust has a reddish-brown tone and glossy sheen. It is the most common type of crust used on Cantonese-style mooncakes. It is also the most commonly seen type of mooncake in North America and many western countries. Chewy mooncake crusts are made using a combination of thick sugar syrup, lye water, flour, and oil, thus giving this crust its rich taste and a chewy yet tender texture. Chewiness can be increased further by adding maltose syrup to the mixture.
  • The dough is also baked into fish or piglet shapes (Cantonese: "Jue Zai Bang"; 豬仔餅; lit. "Piglet Biscuits") and sold at mooncake bakeries as a chewy snack. They often come individually packaged in small plastic baskets, to symbolize fish being caught or piglets being bound for sale.
• Flaky: Flaky crusts are most indicative of Suzhou-style mooncakes. The dough is made by rolling together alternating layers of oily dough and flour that has been stir-fried in oil. This crust has a very similar texture to the likes of puff pastry.
• Tender: Mooncakes from certain provinces of China and Taiwan are often made to be tender rather than flaky or chewy. The texture of this type of mooncake crust is similar to the likes of the shortcrust pastry used in Western pie crusts or tart shells. Tender crusts are made mainly of a homogenous mix of sugar, oil, flour, and water. This type of crust is also commonly used in other type of Chinese pastries, such as the egg tart.

Yue cuisine Chinese: Cantonese (Yue) cuisine originates from Guangdong Province in Southern China, or more precisely, the area around Guangzhou (Canton). ... North America North America is a continent[1] in the Earths northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. ... Lye is a caustic solution used for glass and soap making. ... Maltose, or malt sugar, is a disaccharide formed from two units of glucose joined with an α(1→4) linkage. ... For other uses, see Fish (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Pig (disambiguation). ... This article is about the city in Jiangsu. ... Stir frying (爆 bào) in a wok Stir frying is an English umbrella term used to describe two fast Chinese cooking techniques: chǎo (炒) and bào (爆). The term stir-fry was introduced into the English language by Buwei Yang Chao, in her book How to Cook and Eat in... Wikibooks Cookbook has an article on Puff pastry Apple turnover, made with puff pastry In baking, a puff pastry (French: pâte feuilletée; Spanish: hojaldre) is a light, flaky pastry made from dough of the same name. ... Shortcrust pastry is a type of pastry often used for the base of a tart or a pie. ... This article is about the baked good, for other uses see Pie (disambiguation). ... A tart is a pastry dish, usually sweet, that is a type of pie, with an open top that is not covered with pastry. ... An egg tart with puff pastry crust Egg tart is a kind of pastry that is popular in Hong Kong, Macau and surrounding areas in southern China. ...

Regional variations

There are many regional variants of the mooncake. Types of traditional mooncakes include:

• Cantonese-style mooncake: The Cantonese style mooncake is the most commonly seen throughout China and outside^{[citation needed]}. Originating from Guangdong province, the Cantonese style mooncake has up to 200 variations ^{[citation needed]}. The ingredients used for the fillings are various: lotus seed paste, melon seed paste, ham, chicken, duck, roast pork, mushrooms, egg yolks, etc. More elaborate versions contain four egg yolks, representing the four phases of the moon.

• Suzhou-style mooncake:: This style began more than a thousand years ago, and is known for its layers of flaky dough and generous allotment of sugar and lard. Within this regional type, there are more than a dozen variations. It is also smaller than most other regional varieties. Suzhou-style mooncakes feature both sweet and savoury types, the latter served hot and usually filled with pork mince.

• Beijing-style mooncake: This style has two variations. One is called "di qiang," which was influenced by the Suzhou-style mooncake. It has a light foamy dough as opposed to a flaky one. The other variation is called "fan mao" and has a flaky white dough. The two most popular fillings are the mountain hawthorn and wisteria blossom flavour. The Beijing-style mooncake is often meticulously decorated.

• Chaoshan (Teochew)-style mooncake: This is another flaky crust variety, but is larger in size than the Suzhou variety. It is close in diameter to the Cantonese style, but thinner in thickness. A variety of fillings are used, but the aroma of lard after roasting is emphasised.

• Ningbo-style mooncake: This style is also inspired by the Suzhou-style. It is prevalent in Zhejiang province and has a compact covering. The fillings are either seaweed or ham; it is also known for its spicy and salty flavour.

• Yunnan-style mooncake: Also known as "t'o" to the residents, its distinctive feature is the combination of various flours for the dough and includes rice flour, wheat flour, buckwheat flour, and more. Most of the variations within this style are sweet.

Yue cuisine Chinese: Cantonese (Yue) cuisine originates from Guangdong Province in Southern China, or more precisely, the area around Guangzhou (Canton). ... Not to be confused with the former Kwantung Leased Territory in north-eastern China. ... Subfamilies Dendrocygninae Oxyurinae Anatinae Aythyinae Merginae Duck is the common name for a number of species in the Anatidae family of birds. ... For other uses, see Pork (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Mushroom (disambiguation). ... In astronomy, a phase of the Moon is any of the aspects or appearances presented by the Moon as seen from Earth, determined by the portion of the Moon that is visibly illuminated by the Sun. ... This article is about the city in Jiangsu. ... Dough Dough is a paste made out of any cereals (grains) or leguminous crops by grinding with small amount of water. ... This article is about the city in Jiangsu. ... Peking redirects here. ... Species About 15 species, including: Rhaphiolepis ferruginea Rhaphiolepis fragrans Rhaphiolepis indica Rhaphiolepis integerrima Rhaphiolepis kerrii Rhaphiolepis lanceolata Rhaphiolepis major Rhaphiolepis salicifolia Rhaphiolepis umbellata Rhaphiolepis (syn. ... Species See text. ... The southeast coast of Guangdong Province is home to the Cháoshàn (潮汕) Teochiu linguistic and cultural region. ... Ningbo (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ning-po; literally Tranquil Waves) is a seaport sub-provincial city with a population of 1,219,900 in northeastern Zhejiang province, Peoples Republic of China. ... Zhejiang (also spelled Chehkiang or Chekiang) is an eastern coastal province of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Ascophyllum nodosum exposed to the sun in Nova Scotia, Canada Dead Mans Fingers (Codium fragile) off Massachusetts coast For the band, see; Seaweed (band) For the rock musician, see; Seaweed (musician) Seaweeds are any of a large number of marine benthic algae. ... This article is about the cut of meat. ... For other uses, see Spice (disambiguation). ... Yunan redirects here. ... Rice flour is a finely ground powder of rice. ... An ingredient used in many foods, flour is a fine powder made from grain or other starchy food sources. ...

Modern

Jelly mooncake with yam-paste filling

Modern mooncakes differ mainly from traditional types most vividly in the type of fillings that are offered. For instance, mooncakes containing taro paste and pineapple, which were considered novelty items at their time of invention have in recent years become commonplace items. In addition, ingredients such as coffee, chocolate, nuts (walnuts, mixed nuts, etc), fruits (prunes, pineapples, melons, etc), vegetables (sweet potatoes, etc), ham, and even lychees have been added to give a modern twist to the traditional recipes. ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (976x879, 309 KB) Summary Jelly mooncake with yam paste filling, made by mum-in-law. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (976x879, 309 KB) Summary Jelly mooncake with yam paste filling, made by mum-in-law. ... This article is about the plant. ... For other uses, see Pineapple (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Coffee (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Chocolate (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Walnut (disambiguation). ... Mixed nuts Mixed nuts are a snack food consisting of any mixture of nuts in the culinary sense, particularly peanuts, almonds, walnuts, Brazil nuts, cashews, filberts, and pecans. ... Prune refers to any of more than 125 varieties of fruit, most grown for drying. ... For other uses, see Pineapple (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Melon (disambiguation). ... Binomial name L. Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults. ... This article is about the cut of meat. ... Binomial name Sonn. ...

Fillings

Snowy mooncakes first appeared on the market in the early 1980's. These non-baked, chilled mooncakes were initially filled with traditional fillings such as lotus seed, red bean, or mung bean paste. However, the launch of a champagne truffle snow-skin mooncake in 1994 by Raffles Hotel in Singapore, triggered a wave of modern mooncakes^{[citation needed]}. Häagen-Dazs quickly followed on from this innovation, and were one of the first to create an ice-cream mooncake, with a choice of either the "traditional," snow-skin, or Belgian white, milk, and dark chocolate crusts. Moon Cakes have lately become Americanized very much in the United State. Instead of a filling of egg yolk, you can have them filled with marshmallows or chocolate. Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... Champagne is often consumed as part of a celebration Champagne is a sparkling wine produced by inducing the in-bottle secondary fermentation of wine to effect carbonation. ... Species Tuber melanosporum Tuber brumale Tuber aestivum Tuber uncinatum Tuber mesentericum Tuber magnatum Truffle describes a group of edible mycorrhizal (symbiotic relationship between fungus and plant) fungi (genus Tuber, class Ascomycetes, division Ascomycota). ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ... The grand entrance of the Raffles Hotel. ... Logo A Häagen-Dazs shop in Fashion Show Mall on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. ...

Following this bit of lateral thinking, it was obvious these non-baked mooncakes could be filled with pretty much anything that could be made into a paste. An explosion of new flavours appeared and spanned the range from: Lateral thinking is a term coined by Edward de Bono, a Maltese psychologist, physician and writer. ...

• cream cheese
• ginseng
• bird’s nest
• chicken floss
• tiramisu
• green tea
• pandan
• durian
• ice cream (variety of flavours)
• chocolate
• coffee
• peanut

White kidney bean paste or plain ice-cream are usually used as a base of flavours such as green tea, coffee, or ginseng, which are not thick enough or cannot be usually in large enough quantities to be a filling on their own. Country of origin United States Region, town Chester, New York Source of milk Cow Pasteurised Texture Soft Aging time none Certification Cream cheese is a sweet, soft, mild-tasting, white cheese that contains at least 33% milkfat (as marketed) with a moisture content of not more than 55%, and a... Not to be confused with ginger. ... Genera Hydrochous Collocalia Aerodramus Schoutedenapus Bold text The birds called Swiftlets or Cave Swiftlets are contained within the four genera Aerodramus, Hydrochous, Schoutedenapus and Collocalia. ... Fragrance Foodstuff brand rousong (肉松; pork floss) Rousong (Traditional Chinese: 肉鬆; Simplified Chinese: 肉松; Pinyin: ròu sōng; literally meat fluff/loose), also called meat floss, pork floss, or pork sung, is a dried Chinese meat item that has a light and fluffy texture similar to coarse cotton. ... Tiramisu Tiramisu is an Italian dessert typically made from ladyfinger cookies, espresso coffee, mascarpone cheese, eggs, cream, sugar, Marsala wine, cocoa, and rum. ... Green tea (绿茶) is tea that has undergone minimal oxidation during processing. ... Pandan cake is a light, fluffy cake flavoured with the juice of the pandanus leaves. ... This article is about the fruit. ... Missing image Ice cream is often served on a stick Boxes of ice cream are often found in stores in a display freezer. ... For other uses, see Chocolate (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Coffee (disambiguation). ... Binomial name L. This article is about the legume. ...

Crusts

Pink jelly mooncake with red-bean paste filling

Modern varieties of mooncakes are also different from their traditional counterparts in that their crusts typically do not require baking. However, they require refrigerating. There are two main varieties of modern mooncake crusts: ImageMetadata File history File links Summary Jelly mooncake with red bean paste filling, made by mum-in-law. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Summary Jelly mooncake with red bean paste filling, made by mum-in-law. ...

• Glutinous rice: A crust with texture similar to that of a mochi. These moon cakes are know colloquially as "snow-skin mooncakes" or "ice-skin mooncakes" (冰皮 or 冰皮月餅).
• Jelly: A crust made of gelling mixtures such as agar, gelatin, or konjac and flavoured with a wide variety of fruit flavourings.

Glutinous rice ( or Oryza glutinosa; also called sticky rice, sweet rice, waxy rice, botan rice, mochi rice, and pearl rice) is a type of short-grained Asian rice that is especially sticky when cooked. ... Rice Cake Pounding mochi in an usu Making mochi with a modern piece of equipment Mochi (Japanese ) is the Japanese variant of Chinese rice cake, which, like its Chinese origin, is made of glutinous rice, pounded into paste and molded into shape; however, unlike the Chinese variety, it is molded... A colloquialism is an informal expression, that is, an expression not used in formal speech or writing. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... For the art collective, see Gelitin. ... Binomial name Amorphophallus konjac K. Koch Konjac (Amorphophallus konjac; syn. ...

Healthy mooncakes

To adapt to today’s health-conscious lifestyle, many bakeries offer miniature mooncakes and fat-free mooncakes. Some are made of yogurt, jelly, and fat-free ice-cream. Even high-fibre low-sugar mooncakes have made their appearance. To be competitive, bakers boast about how little sugar and oil they use in their mooncakes. Customers can pick and choose the size and filling that suits their taste and diet. For added hygiene, each cake is often wrapped in airtight plastic, accompanied by a tiny food preserver packet. The new version is well-accepted among young people in China. Yoghurt Yoghurt or yogurt, less commonly yoghourt or yogourt, is a dairy product produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. ... Jam from berries Jams from apples, quinces, plums, squashes and oranges Fruit preserves refers to fruit, or vegetables, that have been prepared, canned or jarred for long term storage. ... For the meaning of fiber in nutrition, see dietary fiber. ...

Use in other countries

Vietnamese mooncakes fresh out of the oven. The Sino-Vietnamese characters on the cakes say "Nguyễn Family."

Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Hán tá»± (漢字, lit. ...   (IPA:// in Vietnamese; English approximation: win) is the most common Vietnamese family name. ...

Indonesia

In Indonesia, the local mooncake rather different from any other mooncake. The shape are in full circle like a moon, white, and rather thin than the traditional mooncake. There's a lot of filling variation like chocolate, cheese, milk, durian, jackfruit, etc.

Japan

In Japan, mooncakes are sold year-round, mainly in Japan's Chinatowns, pronounced in Japanese as "Geppei." Adzuki (Red Bean) paste is the most popular filling for these mooncakes, but coconut is also used. Unlike some types of Chinese mooncakes, mooncakes in Japan almost never contain an egg yolk in the center. In fact, most people in Japan do not know that some mooncakes have eggs in them. Alternative meanings: Chinatown (disambiguation) The second_largest Chinatown in North America is in San Francisco, California, where signs, storefronts, proprietors, and even lamp posts bring the culture of China to the United States. ... Binomial name Vigna angularis (Willd. ...

Philippines

In the Philippines, a type of round non-traditional mooncake is known as "hopia" and usually has mung bean, taro, or even durian paste as its filling. The outside is flaky and the markings instead of being indented are instead stamped using a red food ink. Hopia is a popular Filipino bean filled pastry originally introduced by Fujianese immigrants in urban centres of the Philippines around the start of the American civil occupation. ... This article is about the plant. ... This article is about the fruit. ...

Vietnam

In Vietnam, mooncakes are known as bánh trung thu (literally "Mid-Autumn cake") and may contain a variety of fillings, such as mung beans or durian. Binomial name (L.) R. Wilczek Synonyms Phaseolus aureus Roxb. ...

Thailand

The most popular mooncake filling in Thailand is Durian (they are even more expensive than ones with lotus seed). Durian filling is prepared in the same way as durian jam which is eaten as a dessert in Thailand.

Cultural role

Mid-Autumn Festival

The festival is intricately linked to the legends of Chang E, the mythical Moon Goddess of Immortality. Japanese name Kanji: Kana: Korean name Hangul: Hanja: Vietnamese name Quốc ngữ: Chữ nôm: Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations in Victoria Park, Hong Kong. ... For other uses, see Mythology (disambiguation). ... For the 1934 film, see, see The Goddess (1934 film). ... This article is about living for infinite period of time. ...

But despite its central role in the Mid-Autumn festival, the popularity of mooncakes has declined in recent years. Part of the reason is that people are becoming more health-conscious. Traditional mooncakes are made with lard, and a lot of sugar. Another reason for the decline in popularity is that the Moon Festival has become increasingly commercialized. People are focusing more on the exchange of gifts, and less on the traditional celebrations, such that its symbolism has eroded. Many mooncakes are bought by businessmen who give them to their clients as presents.^[1] This article is about the fat. ...

Ming revolution

Mooncakes were used as a medium by the Ming revolutionaries in their espionage effort to secretly distribute letters in order to overthrow the Mongolian rulers of China in the Yuan dynasty. The idea is said to be conceived by Zhu Yuanzhang (朱元璋) and his advisor Liu Bowen (劉伯溫), who circulated a rumor that a deadly plague was spreading and the only way to prevent it was to eat the special mooncakes. This prompted the quick distribution of the mooncakes, which were used to hide a secret message coordinating the Han Chinese revolt on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month.^[2] For other uses, see Ming. ... Spy and Secret agent redirect here. ... Capital Dadu Language(s) Mongolian Chinese Government Monarchy Emperor  - 1260-1294 Kublai Khan  - 1333-1370 (Cont. ... The Hongwu Emperor (October 21, 1328 - June 24, 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang, was the founder of the Ming Dynasty of China, and the first emperor of this dynasty from 1368 to 1398. ... Liu Ji (Chinese: 刘基, courtesy name Bowen (伯温)) (1311-1375) was a Chinese military strategist and statesman in the Ming dynasty. ... Languages Chinese languages Religions Predominantly Taoism, Mahayana Buddhism, traditional Chinese religions, and atheism. ...

Another method of hiding the message was printed in the surface of mooncakes as a simple puzzle or mosaic. In order to read the encrypted message, each of the 4 mooncakes packaged together must be cut into 4 parts each. The 16 pieces of mooncake, must then be pieced together in such a fashion that the secret messages can be read. The pieces of mooncake are then eaten to destroy the message.^[3][4]

See also

• Chinese cuisine
• Suncake

Chinese cuisine (Chinese: 中國菜) originated from different regions of China and has become widespread in many other parts of the world — from East Asia to North America, Australasia and Western Europe. ... A suncake (Chinese: 太陽餅; Pinyin: ) is a popular Taiwanese dessert originally from the city of Taichung in Taiwan. ...

References

External links

• FoodSF sells Moon Cakes on-line and delivers through out United States.
• Chinatownology - Moon cakes and social solidarity
• Festival Takes the (Moon) Cake
• Rainbow mooncake with mung paste
• Making Cantonese style mooncakes
• Vietnamese mooncakes
• Adzuki Bean Mooncake Recipe