The Chinese Mooncake Festival falls on 22 September this year. We can see mooncakes selling almost every where we go. There are more and more varieties too. For me, I only like the traditional ones. Although I am in Malaysia this year, I still like to make my own. I made them when I live overseas because I couldn't buy them initially but now I think the homemade ones are the best. So there is no exception this year. What I like about being in Malaysia is, I can buy all the ingredients I want.
This year I made lotus nuts and red beans fillings plus lotus nuts with pandan flavour. I bought 1kg of lutos nuts and 700g of red beans. I made about 20 mooncakes with lotus fillings and 16 mooncakes with red beans fillings.
Here is my recipe for the fillings
Preparing the beans
600 g beans – red beans
Wash and boil until very soft – 3 to 4 hours.
Cool and wash with water using a sieve and discard skins, saving the water.
Pour water into a muslin bag to strain out the bean paste. Drain the water until the paste is fairly dry.
To cook the filling
150g – 200g oil (about one rice bowl)
700g sugar
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons maltose
4 handfuls of peeled kuaci (optional)
Heat a heavy & thick wok (eg cast iron) on medium heat.
Add 2 tablespoons of the oil.
Pour in all the sugar.
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Stir gently and constantly until the sugar has melted into a thick liquid. Be careful as the sugar will burn easily. Remove from heat occasionally if necessary. Do not let it boil. Mash any lumps. If the bean paste is pale in colour, let the sugar brown a little bit. |
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Pour in the rest of the oil. Turn up the heat. Stir constantly. Drop in a bit of the bean paste to test the heat – if it sizzles, it is hot enough. |
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| Add all of the bean paste to the wok in small lumps. Stir constantly. |
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Mix 2 tablespoons of flour with about ½ rice bowl of water into a thin batter.
When the bean paste is thick and begins to leave the side of the wok, drizzle in the flour batter. Stir constantly until peaks form in the paste.
Using a wet tablespoon, drop in two tablespoons of maltose. Add the kuaci if using. Cook until the mixture is stiff and doesn’t stick to fingers when touched. Cool. |
Recipe for the pastry
Enough for about 600 g of beans
10 tablespoons peanut oil
12 tablespoons golden syrup
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon alkali water (kan sui)
¼ teaspoon dark soy sauce for colour
Stir all ingredients together. Mix well.
Sift 400 g of flour. Spoon into the wet mixture. Fold through. Do not overmix or else the pastry will be tough.
Cover with a damp cloth and leave for ½ hour.
Making the mooncakes
Weigh out lumps of filling. Around 130g for large cakes, 40g for small cakes, depending on the mould.
Mash and knead each lump of filling until smooth and roll into balls.
Use about a tablespoon of the pastry dough to form a circle with floured hands. Wrap around a ball of filling. Remove excess dough. Press into a well-floured mould. Tap out of the mould.
Bake at 200C until light brown. Remove from oven and spray with water. Brush with a mixture of egg yolk and evaporated milk. Bake until golden brown.
Cool slightly. Turn upside down onto trays and leave until cold. Best eaten when the pastry has softened.
