The mid-autumn moon is full, and families with mooncakes in hand are harmonious, happy, and healthy.įreshly made mooncakes will beat the store bought ones in any contest. They symbolize the moon and family unity. Mooncakes are probably the most famous of all Mid-Autumn Festival foods. Just like no one Chinese New Year meal is the same or the de facto official menu, no Mid-Autumn Festival traditions explore the same tastes. Keep in mind that every region’s traditions vary. It also sounds like 佑子 ( yòuzi ), which means “bless and protect the children/descendants.” If you’re a wordplay geek, read on, because there’s more! In true Chinese form, foods are picked for their associations with certain words and phrases and often vary by province due to pronunciation differences in local dialects.įor example, “pomelo” in Chinese is 柚子 ( yòuzi ). It’s a bit like Thanksgiving in that sense! Mid-Autumn Festival Foods Rather than the well known suspects of chicken, pork, or fish dishes, most traditional Mid-Autumn festival foods are associated with the local harvest. After some research, the findings are a bit unexpected! My family didn’t know much about the holiday’s traditions, so now I find it interesting to do a little research and share them with Sarah and Kaitlin. Mooncakes are a must for any Mid-Autumn Festival celebration, but have you ever wondered, what other traditional foods do people serve for the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节, zhōngqiū jié )? We were all saved the day we got a rice cooker! A Little Like Chinese Thanksgiving

In the past few years, much of my focus has been on the mooncake-I’ve published one every year! Kaitlin asked me if we bought our mooncakes or made them from scratch back in the day.ĭon’t let her grandmother / my mother fool you with her delicious Chicken Wontons -she could barely cook rice back in those days, let alone produce an edible mooncake!Įvery day, rice was cooked in a big wok over flames stoked by thick sticks and twigs, and she just couldn’t get that flame right…the rice on the bottom would be burned, and the rice on the top would be slightly crunchy. We would make a special purchase of mooncakes-one for each person in the family, a big splurge! We’d eat them while sitting outside looking at the moon, admiring the night sky as we munched. The Mid-Autumn Festival can get lost in the American mainstream, but it’s an important Chinese holiday, and one that my family celebrated every year when I was growing up in China. I hope you’re ready, but in case you’re not, we’re sharing 10 traditional Mid-Autumn Festival Foods served during this holiday! Mid-Autumn Festival Memories

The Mid-Autumn Festival is almost here! It falls on September 13 this year.

Chinese moon festival midautumn