A couple of years ago, I was happy and proud that we made our own mooncakes for Mid-Autumn Festival. From scratch. By hand. 100% homemade. Like Martha Stewart, but in Asia and without felony charges.
They were pretty tasty and I had good intentions about continuing to make them at home. Last year, we just bought some at the store, though. That’s life for ya.
This year, we’re in the States. Although I brought my mooncake molds here, I didn’t plan well beyond that. Things got busy, as things do in America. Before I knew it, we were just a few days out from my favorite Chinese holiday, and I had done nothing to prepare. Part of it was not having constant reminders from supermarket displays, tents on street corners, and every blessed store in the city to clue me in that we were getting closer to Zhongqiu Jie. (Instead, I had a display of Christmas trees when I visited my local Walmart last week. Nooooo!)
I remembered that in the U.S., you could get mooncakes on Amazon. I took a look. They had Maxim’s mooncakes! Wow! Yes!
But it was $999 for 10 of them. Wow. No.
Then I saw Kee Wah Bakery mooncakes for a still-expensive-but-not-insane price. Apparently there is a branch of Kee Wah Bakery in California so they are legal to be shipped in the U.S. They say: “Kee Wah Bakery 奇華餅家 is a well-known brand within Hong Kong, but has established itself as the go-to for the Mid-Autumn Festival in the USA as well.”
It appears I’m not the only one in the USA who is ordering mooncakes by mail.
Unfortunately, the Prime shipping appears to only apply to the shipping time, not the baking time. Ours aren’t set to arrive until this weekend. I won’t be that sad, though. We’ll still eat them and moon gaze, and pretend that the neighbors’ Halloween decorations are really Mid-Autumn lanterns and floats.
What are your mooncake plans this year?
A – making them at home
B – buying them from a store or bakery
C – eating ones you’ve been gifted
D – throwing them in the trash and praying you never get given any again
Whether you are close to family or far away this week, and whether you love or hate mooncakes, have a wonderful Mid-Autumn Festival!
Yes, You Really Can Make Mooncakes at Home
October 4, 2017 at 12:53 pm
Mama always said, “Life is like a box of…mooncakes.” I cannot resist cutting each and every one to see if there’s anything good inside. We only like coconut or pineapple or our new favorite…lava custard from Hong Kong. Oh my goodness. But my boys will eat almost anything that’s even remotely sweet, so we just put all the cut halves in a tin and let them have the rejects. We also got a coupon for free Haagen Dazs moon cakes. Which of course are not really mooncakes, and therefore definitely delicious.
October 5, 2017 at 3:29 am
We love the fruit ones, though some are (dare I say it??) a little too sweet for me. Lava custard and Haagen Dazs sound incredible. Enjoy!!
October 5, 2017 at 11:48 am
Hmmm…. I wonder if Lee Lee’s has them up here? I did have a red bean bunSunday night at the Hook’s house, thanks to the Changs. Yum!That andRita’s mango custard cups, equally yum.
October 23, 2017 at 11:46 am
Those sound nice!