Betty's Homemade Ping Pei Mooncake

This box of moon cakes is from my sister, Betty. As usual, she is the first one to remind us that the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节) is just round the corner. This year it will be celebrated on the 25th September. Time does fly...

Betty not only cooks well, she has been making these awesome ping pei (snow skin) moon cakes for close to 20 years.

She first started making for friends and family but through the years, by word of mouth her moon cake culinary reputation grew by leaps and bounds and orders keep coming in every year.

Every year when the Mid Autumn Festival is near, the orders usually start coming in one month before the festival day itself.

She has to recruit everyone in her family (her daughters, sons-in-laws and sons) to fill the orders.

The ping pei skin and fillings for the moon cakes are all made by Betty herself with the help of Helen, her maid of more than 15 years and the rest of the family would then help with the moulding.

My all time favourite is this 'yin yang' cake with mung beans paste and red bean paste (tuasa) wrapped in pandan flavoured skin.

The savoury taste of the mung bean paste with an aroma of spring onion and slight saltiness compliments the sweet tausa so well.

With most of the commercial sweet fillings of mixed nuts, red bean paste, lotus-seed paste and salted duck egg yolks, the most I can manage is two small slices but this, I can eat the whole cake by myself!

The light purple moon cake is with yam (taro) paste. It is made of 100% real yam! Can actually see some bits and pieces of the yam in this picture.

Heather, this is for you. Yi Yi gave you a box too but since we can't get it over to you before these cakes expire (without preservatives they don't last that long, you know), we took the liberty to cut, took pictures and blog them for you to feast your eyes (also made some pu erh tea for you). Enjoy!!

Jo

Note: These ping pei moon cakes are meant to be eaten cold. By the time I was done with them, they had almost melted as can be seen from the last shot. Had trouble slicing them, thus, the rather messy result.