Mooncake

Mooncake, a pie-like pastry made with a shortcrust base called yueh ping and typically filled with black sesame seed or lotus seed paste, red beans, roasted pork, mung beans, dates, and salted duck egg yolks, is an ancient Chinese delicacy eaten during the Mid-August Festival or Moon Festival.

Mooncakes are now available with a range of sweet and savory fillings, including honeydew, litchi, and pineapple, as well as chocolate or mixed nuts, abalone and seaweed, green tea, and even cream cheese or ice cream. Their round shape is suggestive of the moon, but it also represents a full circle, which in Chinese philosophy represents fullness, oneness, perfection, and unification.

Mooncakes are normally eaten split into small slices and served with Chinese tea because they are supposed to be shared. These pastries were originally produced as a Moon offering, but they have now evolved into the most popular food of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, is a Chinese festival observed on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, when the full moon is considered to be at its brightest and closest to Earth. It is a national holiday and an intangible cultural heritage.