Introduction
The history of mooncakes is an interesting and complex part of Chinese tradition that has seen significant growth and change over the centuries. From their simplistic beginning as a hearty food for the revolution, to their complex and often intricate designs of today, mooncakes have seen much change. The manufacturers of mooncakes have understandably played a significant role in driving change and innovation in the style, taste, and design of these timeless treats. In recent years personal health, due to lifestyle and hereditary reasons, has become a focus for many people and this has driven a significant change in the way mooncakes are produced and sold. This essay will explore the historic manufacturing methods used to produce mooncakes, the changes in these methods due to innovation in the industry of today and finally the potential future of mooncake manufacturing to service the health needs of an ever increasingly health aware population. Through exploration of these themes we hope to provide a comprehensive overview of the history, innovation, and future of mooncake production.
Traditional Mooncakes: Origins and Significance
There is a general consensus among culinary historians that mooncakes must have been created years ago. A popular folklore concerning the Yuan dynasty tells of how the Chinese threw off the ruling Mongols by hiding secret messages in mooncakes. On the night of the Moon Festival, the rebels attacked and overthrew the Mongols and these days mooncakes are eaten to commemorate that event. More prosaically, mooncakes have been described as a Chinese adaptation of the Portuguese pies that were used by the navigators of the fifteenth century as a portable sustenance for long sea voyages.
The significance of mooncakes lies not in the dietary content, but rather the value of upholding tradition. It’s about getting families together to sit round and talk, leading to more familial interaction. In today’s society, mooncake manufacturers are trying to uphold and promote tradition through the promotion of its folklore and by creating mooncakes with a more traditional taste. This enhances the meaning of consuming mooncakes during the Moon Festival since older generations will be able to educate the young, leading to a greater appreciation of the festival.
Evolution of Mooncake Manufacturing Techniques
The production of mooncakes has not changed much since ancient times, when production took place in small family-run shops. In the past few decades, the processes of mooncake production have changed somewhat with the introduction of machinery, but traditional mooncakes that are still produced by large companies are made using traditional techniques. Differences in the quality of traditional mooncakes and modern mooncakes are due to changes in production. The traditional method of producing mooncakes still prevails in many rural areas, both in Southern China and in regions with an ethnic Chinese population. The traditional method of production is very labor-intensive and few people are still producing mooncakes this way. The mooncake crust is made from a syrup, mixed with alkaline water, and the syrup is then cooked with a wheat flour paste. This dry-fried paste is known as qian3 shao1 bing3 jiang4.
Around the 1950s, because of its similarities to the dough used in pastries and cookies, the traditional method of dough-making was largely replaced by using lard as a shortening and a dough made of wheat flour and water. The wheat dough method has been used in combination with the dough made from syrup in recent years because it produces a soft crust. The traditional techniques for the production of each type of crust and the filling can still be found in online handbooks for the traditional mooncake, which are generally written by cooks or housewives. One such set of techniques involves hand-painting a lye solution onto the crust of a dough made from syrup. This is notoriously difficult to do and requires a steady hand and plenty of practice to prevent the lye solution from soaking through the crust and into the filling. Another difficult technique is the crust made from a su1 (flaky) dough. The lard and water dough for this crust is mixed with a large amount of lard (about 2:1 flour to lard ratio) and requires a day or two to sit before it is rolled into a thin paste and then rolled up into a coil to be unraveled onto the crust of the mooncake.
Innovative Mooncake Varieties: Modern Twists on Tradition
With the trend of health consciousness, there are new varieties of mooncakes being made. These are low fat and less sweet mooncakes. If you enjoy traditional mooncakes but are health conscious or have dietary restrictions, these are the perfect mooncakes for you. Traditional mooncakes usually have 1000 calories, but low fat mooncakes have 500 calories and regular mooncakes have 800 calories. Additionally, there is a trend of using organic ingredients in these mooncakes. This aims to reduce the number of artificial additives in mooncakes. However, due to the fact that organic ingredients are more expensive, these mooncakes are generally more costly. Nonetheless, it’s a healthier choice for you and for the environment.
Unique mooncakes manufactured in different areas of the world include snow skin mooncakes, which have a slightly translucent skin and are often filled with a sweet center like regular mooncakes. These gourmet snow skin mooncake varieties can be found in ice cream flavors such as durian and chocolate. In recent years, snow skin mooncakes have become increasingly popular due to their refreshing taste and their appeal to the younger generation. In addition, a distinctive Teochew mooncake pastry style is also found in Eastern Asia. This is often referred to as the yam paste variety. It is smaller and denser compared to the regular mooncake. Lastly, with a western influence, there are even ice cream and cheesecake mooncakes. With a widening diversity of mooncake varieties and the crossover of cultures, modern mooncakes have the potential to become international pastries.
Conclusion
This research has unearthed the history of mooncakes to prove its unique nature as a cultural product of the Chinese people. Its tradition has been well preserved until today, despite being in many different places with Chinese communities outside China. Whether the method of production and the eating behavior have changed, it remains a symbol of nostalgia to the elderly and fascination to the young. With many issues and challenges ahead, the stakeholders, including mooncakes manufacturers, must always protect its tradition that is valuable to society. Any changes and innovation by mooncakes manufacturers should be for the better and not a means to end the tradition and the symbolism of the product. Mooncakes should always denote unity. Any unification of the past and present eating behavior should not be the cause to segregate social classes. The Chinese saying “Yesterday’s mooncake is for the pure, today’s mooncake is for health, tomorrow’s mooncake is for convenience” must not let the quality of the mooncake and its tradition degrade.
Throughout this study, information on the tradition and innovation of manufacturing mooncakes has been compiled. It begins with a historical background of the mooncake festival in Malaysia. It then moves on to detailing the recipe and production process of mooncakes before touching on the issues faced by the stakeholders, including mooncakes manufacturers, in today’s modern world. In addition, it also covers the innovative methods and research to improve the mooncake industry and ends with the personal insight of the writer’s view of the mooncake industry in Malaysia.
The study of the mooncake industry in Malaysia has been enriching and fruitful. Its history, which dates back to many centuries ago, tells us about the cultural exchange between Chinese migrants and the local people. It is always related to its tradition that has been passed down for generations, tied to familial piety, the celebration of unity, and also a symbol of hope. It has been a food full of myth and legends, and its role in dynastic politics in China always amazed people from many walks of life. Coming to Malaysia with various different influences, today it has been commercialized with many different variations in taste and style. With the mission to protect its cultural act, the mooncake industry in Malaysia is facing many challenges keeping up with the modern times.