Making our way back from Hualien, our first stop after getting off at Taipei Station was Taipei 101, again, to enjoy another round of xiaolongbaos.
Being a Sunday, there was a massive crowd waiting into get into Din Tai Fung. Our wait time, we were told, was over 40 minutes. Making good use of this time, we roamed around the mall inside Taipei 101, window-shopping and pick up curios and souvenirs.
And just next to Fin Tai Fung was a stall selling mooncakes, a delicious traditional Chinese pastry that we enjoyed years back when my sister had got them from Singapore. Much later, in 2013, we sampled these goodies roaming around the Hutongs close to the Forbidden City.
Given the crazed foodie that I am, I sampled a few morsels of mooncakes that were on offer.
Aha! I was tempted to pick up a few...
Now mooncakes are a traditional part of Chinese festivities, especially during Zhongqiujie or the Mid-Autumn Festival. Mooncakes are a lot like our desi Diwali ki mithai - they are distributed among friends and family, as wishes for good luck, fortune, health and prosperity.
Scanning the menu...
The prices of mooncakes are steep, by any standard...
Typical mooncakes are round, about 10 centimetres in diameter and 3–4 centimetres thick. Mooncakes have a thin flaky crust, usually filled with a rich thick red bean or lotus seed paste. Some of these pastries may contain salted duck-egg yolks, signifying the moon. Traditional mooncakes have an imprint on top consisting of the Chinese characters for "longevity" or "harmony".
These pastries are usually eaten in small wedges accompanied by Chinese green tea. I can vouch for it, they taste delicious.
A brochure explaining the significance of mooncakes....
Mooncakes have played a part in Chinese history. Legend has it that mooncakes were used to cipher messages that led to the defeat of the Mongol rulers on the Mainland in the 1300s. Ming revolutionaries in their effort to overthrow the Mongolian rulers of China at the end of the Yuan Dynasty circulated a rumour that a deadly plague was spreading and the only way to prevent it was to eat special mooncakes, which would instantly revive and give special powers to the citizen. This facilitated a quick distribution of mooncakes, which contained a secret message coordinating the Han Chinese revolt.
A message was printed on the surfaces of mooncakes. Mooncakes, which came in packages of four, were pieced together, as a simple puzzle or mosaic, to reveal the message. The pieces of mooncake were then eaten to destroy the message.
This bit of history was a revelation for me!
And indeed biting into mooncakes, was a bit like biting into centuries of Chinese history...
The lady very graciously posed for us with the four mooncakes we bought...
And off we went to wait for our turn to get into Din Tai Fung...
And, it is in order to say a few traditional wishes: Sweet cakes will be served with my blessings. Wish you a successful life and a bright future! 送上香甜的月饼，连同一颗祝福的心...愿你过的每一天都象十五的月亮一样成功 !
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