MID-AUTUMN celebrations would be incomplete without mooncakes.
During this year’s Mid-Autumn Carnival in Penang, visitors had the opportunity to learn how to make the seasonal delicacy.
Guided by facilitators and home bakers, visitors were taken through each step of the process, from kneading the dough to filling it with balls of lotus or sesame paste, before pressing the dough into mini plastic moulds etched with intricate patterns.
After popping out of the moulds, the cakes were baked for roughly 15 minutes.
“My children love eating mooncakes, especially the tau sar (mung bean paste) variety.
“They said they enjoyed the mooncake production process,” said Yeap Chye Seng, 48, as he helped his youngest child Jie Ying, six, arrange the mooncakes on trays.
The tour guide also brought his wife and children, aged eight to 14, to the carnival at Armenian Park to learn how to make mooncakes.
College student Tan Jing Xuan, 20, said she had never tried making mooncakes.
“It was not as hard as I imagined. I also learnt about the symbolism behind the designs on top and it gave me a newfound appreciation,” said Tan.
According to workshop facilitator Yeap Poh Looi, 47, anyone with kitchen know-how can make them at home,
All the basic ingredients are readily available in supermarkets or bakery supply shops. Moulds can be purchased online and come in traditional and whimsical forms, she said.
“The only challenge is when you don’t have an oven. In that case, you can make snow-skin mooncakes, which do not need baking.
“These can last several weeks in the refrigerator. Workshop participants often remark how easy they are to make,” she added.
“I started making my own around 14 years ago as my father loved eating them, but I was worried about the sugar content,” said Poh Looi.
“With homemade ones, I could control the ingredients and portion size. Over the years I have made thousands for friends and family.”
