Thursday September 13, 2012
Mooncake-making demo sees more than 200 people in attendance
By FOONG PEK YEE
pekyee@thestar.com.my
Photos by LAI HOCK YEE
Focused: Lam ready the dough for her soft mooncake biscuits. THE nice aroma that filled the air in the packed hall was a hint for the audience who waited patiently to see the finished products at a mooncake-making demonstration recently.
It was almost a three-hour wait before the freshly baked golden items — coconut mooncakes and soft mooncake biscuits — made their way to the table.
Gesture of thanks : Ong (third from right) presenting a fruit basket to Thong who officiated the event. Organised by Ipoh Timur Wanita MCA — held at the Perak MCA headquarters in Jalan Sultan Idris Shah last Sunday — had attracted more than 200 people. Ipoh Timur MCA chief Datuk Thong Fah Chong officiated the event.
Ipoh Timur Wanita MCA chief Ong Siew Giok said the two selected recipes for the demonstration were popular and easy to make.
Keen interest: The audience checking out the mooncakes while getting some culinary tips from Choh. Chefs Choh Keat Choo and Lam Kuan Yin showed the audience step-by-step demonstrations on how to make the coconut mooncake and soft mooncake biscuit.
The coconut mooncake, packed with almonds, melon seeds, sesame seeds, candied lemon and candied mandarin orange, has a rich nutty flavour.
It is popular among the countless varieties of mooncakes in the market.
Meanwhile, Lam’s soft mooncake biscuit or sung fah peng in Cantonese, with lotus seed paste as its main ingredient is a hit among kids.
With pride: Cookbook author Choong Su Yin (front, left) observing her students Choh and Lam presenting the demonstration. It comes in all shapes; from cartoon characters such as Winnie the Pooh and Hello Kitty, to conventional shapes such as fish and pineapple.
Like any Chinese festivals, good tidings is a must; fish in Cantonese is yu and it rhymes with abundance, while pineapple or wong lai rhymes with the arrival of prosperity.
Mid-Autumn Festival — with its legendary tales — is also a celebration of reunion where family and friends come together.
A major Chinese festival, it falls on Sunday and preparations for it have shifted to high gear.
The festival falls on the 15th day of the eighth month in the lunar calendar or Sept 30 this year.
How to make your own coconut mooncake
Filling:
Tropical almonds 50g
Melon seeds 45g
Sesame seeds 40g
Candied melons 30g
Candied mandarin orange 40g
Grated young coconut 300g
Milk powder 40g
Three pieces pandan leaves
Sugar 220g
A quarter tablespoon of salt
Water 150g
Oil 75g
Cooked glutinous rice flour 110g
Mooncake skin:
Flour 300g
Golden syrup 200g
A tablespoon of alkaline water
Oil 100g
(Mix oil, syrup and alkaline water together and add flour. Knead mixture into a dough. Cover dough with a cloth and set aside for at least an hour.)
Golden syrup:
Sugar 600g
One-and-a-half-cup of water
One lime, cut to slices
(Boil all the ingredients for syrup together until it turns golden.)
Method:
Fillings:
1. Mix grated young coconut with milk powder and set aside
2. Wash pandan leaves.
3. Mix water, oil and sugar together. Cook mixture with pandan leaves until sugar dissolves and add the grated coconut plus milk mixture. Continue to stir and cook until the mixture is dry. Be careful not to overcook until it is too dry.
4. Set fillings aside for at least two hours for it to cool. Mix in almonds, melon seeds, sesame seeds, candied melon, candied mandarin orange and the cooked glutinous rice floor.
5. Weigh fillings according to the size of the mould and roll between your palms to turn them into round shapes.
Making the mooncakes:
1. Flatten a portion of the pastry (mooncake skin) on the palm and wrap the filling.
2. Push the wrapped filling into the floured mooncake mould. Remove it from the mould.
3. Brush the moulded mooncake with a lightly beaten egg.
4. Bake mooncake in preheated oven at 180°C for 15 minutes.
5. Remove the mooncake from the oven, let it cool for 15 minutes before brushing it with beaten egg again.
6. Put the mooncake into the oven again and bake for another 15 minutes until it turns golden brown.
Making soft mooncake biscuit
Ingredients:
Flour 200g
Golden syrup 150g
Oil 50g
One-and-a-half teaspoon of alkaline water.
Lotus seeds paste 180g
Method:
1.Mix oil, golden syrup and alkaline water together, followed by flour and lotus seed paste and mix well. Cover the dough with a piece of cloth and leave it aside for an hour.
2.Push the dough into a floured mould. Remove the moulded dough, brush it with lightly beaten egg.
3. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 15 to 25 minutes until golden brown.
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