Mooncakes: A Food Blog! (๑ᵔ⤙ᵔ๑)

Hello, and welcome to the first blog where I (kind of) review something! Since I received two boxes of a favorite Chinese dessert, called mooncakes, in the mail the other day, I really wanted to show them off and introduce a bit of Chinese culture to those who know absolutely nothing about it! I have had a deep fascination and appreciation for China since 2016 (wayyy before the "becoming Chinese" trend was ever a thing X_X), so I hope to create some of that curiosity in you as you continue reading! ^^

For those of you who have never heard of them, mooncakes (月饼 yuè bǐng) are a soft pastry-like dessert with a variety of different fillings to choose from! They are eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节 zhōng qiū jié) and get their name from traditional moon worship. The moon is a very important part of the Mid Autumn Festival since it is a symbol of Chang E (嫦娥 chāng é), a Chinese moon goddess. 

Chang E started out as a regular human, but after her husband discovered an elixir of immortality, he gave it to her for safe keeping. Her husband did not want to become immortal and leave her behind (aww)! Unfortunately, after an apprentice of Chang E's husband found out about the elixir, he tried to obtain it himself. Chang E drank it to prevent the apprentice from having it, so she became immortal as a result. To always be close to her husband, she flew into the sky and chose the moon as a place to stay. (˶˘ ³˘(´͈ ᵕ `͈˶)

Now that you have some more context behind the origins of mooncakes, let's start the unboxing! Admittedly, I have had mooncakes in the past, but these fillings are new to me. The only mooncakes that I have tried before had a sweet red bean flavor, so I am excited to try something different! Both of the mooncakes in this blog are from a brand in Hong Kong called Meixin Mooncakes (美心月饼 měi xīn yuè bǐng), which is the most popular brand in China.

Let's start with my favorite of the two packaging-wise! The first box is admittedly more exciting to me because...

It is Sanrio-themed! Kuromi is admittedly not my favorite Sanrio character (that would be Pompompurin or Cinnamoroll), but she looks absolutely adorable on the packaging! The inside box only gets cuter! ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂)⸝♡

It may look like another regular box, but it is actually made of metal and looks like a book! (♡ˊ͈ ꒳ ˋ͈)

I plan on reusing it as a storage box for all of my various random chargers/cables, so hopefully they all fit. :P

But wait! There's more! In addition to this adorable box, there is something else to show off!

In addition to nice outer and inner boxes, you get a paper bag to put them inside! This actually was included outside of the original packaging since it is too big to fit inside. I will be honest and say that I have absolutely no idea what to use this for, but it is too cute to just throw in the recycling bin. Since mooncakes are a popular gift to give each other during the Mid Autumn Festival, I am assuming that is the purpose of including this. Maybe a wall decoration would be a good idea? ^^;

Next, let's see what is inside the inner box!

We have four adorable Kuromi-themed mooncakes to enjoy! After unwrapping one, you can clearly see a Kuromi head silhouette on top! All mooncakes have cool designs like these, but they are usually more intricate. (๑•᎑•๑)

You may have also noticed another inclusion inside the box. In addition to these yummy-looking mooncakes, you can also get a super cute bag charm as a bonus! (づ๑•ᴗ•๑)づ♡

Do I need any more cute bag charms? No. Do I have a bag in mind for this yet? Absolutely not. Am I jumping for joy? Hell yeah! ₍₍⚞(˶>ᗜ<˶)⚟⁾⁾

Now that you have have seen all of the cool extras, it is time to actually try a mooncake. After taking a bite, this is what the filling looks like inside.

Surprise! There are actually two flavors inside at the same time! The orange center is actually egg yolk. But don't worry! It is not runny or really even tastes like egg. It's more of a salty complement to the other filling inside: lotus paste. This second filling has a sweet yet nutty taste to it! When you take a bite of the two together, you get a nice balance of multiple tastes. I was not sure what to expect with this, but I enjoyed it very much! (っ˘ڡ˘ς)

I will now move onto the second box of mooncakes! While this box is still really pretty, I definitely prefer the Kuromi packaging. You also do not get any extra inclusions with it (outside of an information pamphlet), but at least there are more mooncakes inside!

Since each mooncake is individually wrapped, it is difficult to see the design on top of them. After unwrapping one, this is what they look like!

Admittedly, I think that this design is much cooler since it is a lot more intricate! There are four Chinese characters on top that read as "流心美心 (flowing center, Meixin)." Basically, it is a description of the filling inside and the brand name. The packaging translates the name of the filling as "lava custard" since it is closer to the consistency of icing/frosting.

Does the filling look somewhat familiar？If so, that is because it is actually an egg custard! However, it is sweet instead of salty! I think this filling is definitely more tasty than the first one actually. Looks like I might prefer these a little more over the first ones despite being obsessed with the Kuromi theme. (ﾟoﾟ〃)

If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading my blog post! Hopefully you learned something new and may even consider trying mooncakes yourself! I am very late to the party, but happy Mid Autumn Festival! 中秋节快乐！:3