On the 15th day of the 8th Lunar month, most of the eastern world will be celebrating the Mid Autumn Festival. Falling on the 4th of October this year, most communities will celebrate this festival with lots of lanterns, dragon dances, fantastic light shows and of course, moon cake.

Traditionally celebrated as the Harvest festival, this is a time for people to gather and make offerings to the moon Goddess, Chang'e in gratitude for bountiful harvest. It is said that lanterns are lit to remind the Goddess of her dear husband Houyi who was left on earth after she flew up to the heavens and took the moon as residence. My dad added that it could be a homing beacon for where those mooncakes are stored, just in case the goddess fancies one... Lol.

Though not widely celebrated in the Philippines, my father likes to keep the tradition alive by preparing mooncakes and lighting lanterns in our yard. A few fireworks are used too, because no one would say no to fireworks. Our mooncakes are double yolked (single yolks should be banned, in my opinion), made from scratch, requires some work but is all worth it in the end.

Here is the recipe:

Lotus Paste Mooncakes

Makes 8 regular sized mooncakes

Ingredients:

Mooncake mold

Weighing scale

Preheated oven at 375° F

Lotus Paste

3 1/2 cups dried lotus seeds

1/2 tsp lye water (kansui)*

1 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

14 tbsp lard OR peanut oil

1 tbsp maltose

16 salted duck eggs*

Syrup for Mooncake Skin Dough

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup water

1 lemon quarter or 2 pcs calamansi lime

Mooncake Skin Dough

1 1/4 cup white flour

1/2 cup syrup for mooncake dough

2.5 tbsp lard OR peanut oil

1/2 tbsp lye water (kansui)

1 egg, for egg wash

*Homemade Kansui

1. Preheat oven to 250 deg C. Line a baking tray with foil.

2. Bake baking soda for an hour. After baking DO NOT touch with bare hands as it is very caustic.

3. Transfer into an airtight container for future use (good for making noodles)

4. To make kansui for mooncake, mix 1 tbsp baked baking soda with 4 tbsp water.

*Salted Duck Eggs

Ingredients:

20 fresh duck/ chicken eggs

*chicken eggs won't be as oily*

2 cups salt

6 cups water

2 1/2 tbsp Shaoxing

4 tsp peppercorns (best if szechuan)

3 pcs cinnamon sticks

6 star anise

1 large jar, we use a porcelain jar for this one

Making Salted Eggs

1. Clean eggs thoroughly.

2. Boil water with salt and spices until fragrant. Turn off heat and cool completely. Add Shaoxing.

3. Carefully arrange eggs in jar. Pour cooled brine, submerging the eggs completely. Weigh down the eggs with a plate just to make sure.

4. Cover and store at room temperature for atleast a month. Test one if it suits your taste. Extend brining if the eggs are not salty enough.

5. Rinse with cold water and refrigerate until use.

Directions for Mooncake:

Lotus Paste:

1. Rinse dried lotus seeds and cover with cold water. Soak overnight.

2. The next morning, replace the cold water with boiling water. Add kansui and let stand for 1 hour.

3. After an hour, rub off the skins from the seeds. Remove any sprouts as they are very bitter. Rinse clean.

4. Simmer seeds in a huge pot until soft (3 hours or more). Maintain water level to avoid burning seeds.

5. Once the seeds are soft, puree in the food processor, adding the simmer water to produce a smooth puree. Blend in thoroughly. Let cool.

6. Heat half of the lard in a large pan. Add puree and stir constantly over low flame. Add remaining lard by spoonfuls until you get a moist, oily paste that does not stick to pan. Stir in maltose, remove from pan, and let cool. Don't worry about it being oily, as the skins will absorb it later.

Making syrup for Skin Dough

1. Boil water in a pot.

2. Add sugar and lemon, stirring constantly while simmering over low fire until golden brown. Let cool.

Salted duck egg yolks

Salted duck eggs can be readily bought, but I've given the steps too on how to make your own salted eggs.

1. Crack salted eggs, and carefully remove solid yolks.

2. Place yolks in a bowl, and steam for atleast 10 minutes. Let cool.

Mooncake Skin Dough

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, syrup, lard and lye water. Knead until smooth.

2. Cover and let rest for atleast 3 hours. Divide dough equally to 8 portions

Mooncake assembly

1. Weigh 50 grams of dough. Roll out to a diameter of atleast 6 inches in a lightly floured surface.

2. Weigh 100 grams of lotus paste. Neatly wrap paste around two salted yolks, forming a neat ball. Try to keep the yolk in the middle.

3. Wrap ball with rolled out dough, then pinch to seal.

4. Dust mooncake mold with flour, shaking off the excess. Lightly dust the mooncake ball too. Carefully place it into the mold. Press down lightly with palm until it has filled the cavity.

5. Turn the mold over. Slam the mold flat on the table. Lucky if you get it out on the first try. If not, repeat the process until it gets out of the mold. It may sound like someone is getting pummeled to death in the kitchen but that's just the sound of mooncake un- molding success.

6. Bake mooncakes in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Bring out, then brush with egg wash. Bake again for 15 minutes until a beautiful golden brown.

7. Take out of oven and let cool. When completely cool, place mooncake on airtight containers. DO NOT REFRIGERATE. Let it rest for atleast 2-3 days. This let's the skin absorb the oil from the filling, flavoring the skin, and giving it a beautiful shine.

After some hard labor and mold fulls of patience, you finally get to eat your mooncake! Cut into wedges under the full moon and enjoy with family and friends with a nice cup of tea. Worth it right? Enjoy your mooncake! And don't forget to offer some for that goddess on the moon!