Mid Autumn Festival is the next most important festival after Chinese New Year! Today, September 10 is the start of Mid Autumn Festival and lasts 3 days. Apart from the traditional Moon Cakes and not so traditional, here are six dishes to eat during Mid Autumn Festival. It’s all about family reunion, fertility, good luck, wealth and abundance.
I remember my family also celebrated Mid Autumn Festival with Lanterns lit up. My sister’s bunny rabbit lantern was a cute, white fluffy thing on wheels so she could pull it along. It wasn’t really associated with our Chinese zodiac. Yay, I found her EXACT rabbit on this site!
There is also a Lantern Festival near the end of Chinese New Year, you can read more about it here.
1. Mooncakes
Mooncakes are enjoyed with family and friends while admiring the full moon on this day. Mooncakes symbolize longevity and reunion. In my youth, I liked MoonCakes with double yolks, they are too rich and sweet for me now but it’s interesting to try them. You can find moon cakes at most Asian supermarkets or even purchase from my Amazon store here.
These Mooncakes from Amazon are made with winter melon instead of sweet Lotus or Red Bean paste. I much prefer melon ones (not water melon), I love the crunchier texture.
Wow, surprised my local Costco was selling Mooncakes? Good price too for double yolk $9.99 compared to Amazon for EXACTLY same brand and size $22!
If you enjoy baking, try this recipe…Sweet Mooncakes with Walnut Red Bean Filling.
I prefer savory Mooncakes to the traditional sweet ones, here’s a Suzhou Savory Pork Mooncake.
2. Stuffed Pumpkin instead of Mooncakes
If you don’t want to eat sweet Mooncakes, you can offer a healthier version and make Pumpkin instead. Here’s my fun Stuffed Pumpkin, a la Wok Star Style.
3. Duck
Duck for Mid Autumn Festival has a historic symbolism. For me duck can be eaten ANYTIME and on all occasions. An easy, cheat way to have duck is to purchase ready cooked Roast Duck. If you live in Miami, there are a few places to pick them up like Land N’Sea in the building where Chinese supermarket, Ifresh Market is located or King Palace restaurant, both on NE 167th street in North Miami.
Here’s a novel way to have Crispy Skin Roast Duck Lettuce Wrap, a Perfect Party Appetizer.
Make this Duck Noodle Soup in under 30 minutes.
4. Pork and Taro
What luck! I made a pork and taro stew so scored the two lucky ingredients in one dish! Taro brings luck and pork symbolize wealth and abundance, who doesn’t need that?! Posts for both dishes coming soon.
What about a Pork and Mushroom Stew? Round shaped mushrooms symbolize reunion and togetherness.
5. Lotus Root
Again, round shape symbolizes reunion. You can shallow fried them or grill under broiler. Gives any dish a textural dimension, very lovely. Post how to prepare lotus root coming soon.
6. Water Melon
Water melon shape symbolizes fertility and reunion. This photo was taken in Mexico where they made beautiful sculptures with water melon and also presented them in miniature balls.
You can watch a cute video about how Mid Autumn Festival started.
Enjoy Mid Autumn Festival!
Eat some of these foods with family and friends to bring good luck!