Basic mini snow skin mooncake for Mid-autumn festival

(Bánh dẻo trung thu)

So the moon festival is coming close again, and already I have spotted arrays of moon cakes in various Asian shops around town. There are so many kinds, it is really amazing. The thing is, I have never been a big fan of moon cake. Every autumn festival, I am more than happy to share quarter of the cake with B. Better still, he can have all the filling as he likes, as I am only interested in pinching the outer crust/skin anyway.

Making moon cakes, nevertheless, is something special. It brings me back to my childhood years. In Vietnamese culture, Moon Festival (tết Trung Thu) is a children-only event. That day, we got to stay up late and organised a big party with other kids. Lanterns of various kinds and colors were lit up. Nowadays one can find a lot of different types of lanterns in Hanoi during mid-autumn festival. But for me, nothing beats the star-shaped lanterns (đèn ông sao). The pattern has been the same and unchanged since forever.

Photo of lanterns via Nguyễn Khắc Quân

Of course, mid-autumn festival (tết Trung Thu) is a feasting occasion, featuring all sorts of autumn harvests. For us from northern Vietnam, autumn is the season for persimmons, and absolutely delicious pomelo. The best thing is a flat green young sticky rice dish, called cốm. I would trade anything for fresh cốm, something that I’m sure every Hanoian would miss when they think of autumn.

Actually, I would trade all the moon cakes I make for the fruits and com from Hanoi. But hey, in Australia, moon cakes are the closest things to autumn festival for a lot of us. And never mind the fact that we Australians actually celebrate moon festival in the middle of spring, the spirit is there ;).

Onto the basic snow skin mooncake. It’s perhaps the easiest type out there, and tastes quite delicious. Asian moon cakes are on the sweeter side, and the bean-based filling can be heavy, so I like to make them in mini size.

To make moon cake, you would need a special mould. From experience, the plastic kind is cheaper and actually easier to work with. I got mine from Singapore (thanks MIL!), but I know you can get them from eBay.

Ingredients for snow skin moon cakes are quite easy to get from Asian grocery store. Fried sticky rice flour (see photo, it’s not the normal kind) and sweet paste. I got black sesame, red bean and lotus seed paste. These readily made pastes are a bit sweet, but making them from scratch is a bit much for me these days.

Texture wise, these snow skin moon cakes are not as chewy as the ones I was used to. My MIL said this is a different kind? These have softer skin, and slight nutty aroma from the fried sticky rice flour.

Two-toned mini snow skin moon cake

My mould is 50g. You can work out the good ratio for your moulds after a few tries (i used roughly 50:50). Be creative and use more colors if you like. These moon cakes are best served with Asian fragrant tea, like jasmine or lotus tea. I think these are more Chinese-style, the Vietnamese ones are chewier, and the fillings are more complicated. Simplicity rules here, and I like it this way

Made 25-30 pcs

Ingredients
200g fried glutinous flour
200g icing sugar
100g shorterning
200ml filtered cold ưater
1/4 tsp pandan paste (or other flavoring and colors of choice)

Around 1kg of mooncakes paste - I used chestnut paste.

Method

1. Mix the flour with icing sugar
2. Ad shorterning and blend well until well-mixed.
3. Stir in the water, stiring until a smooth dough is formed.
4. Divide the dough into two parts. Mix in the flavoring into one part. Knead until the color is mixed through.
5. Rest the dough for at least 30 minutes.
6. Prepare the paste - form the paste into balls of 30g each.
7. After resting the dough, pinch two pieces of dough from each of the colored dough. Tolal weight of the balls should be around 25g.

8. Sprinkle some rice flour onto a clean surface, roll the dough flat. Place the paste in the centre of the dough, wrap and shape it into ping pong ball shape.
9. Dust the dough with the rice flour. Dust the mooncake mould with flour, tapp off any excess.
10. Press the dough balls to fit the mould. Press. Inver the mould over, knock the bottom of the mould twice, and the mooncakes should be released.
11. rest in the fridge for 30 mins. Served at room temperature.

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Vietnamese gingery chicken wings (gà rang gừng). Delicious Vietnam #5

Memories of a northern village. Also an entry for Delicious Vietnam. Hosted by yours truly. Details here.

I love my father’s hometown, a small village in the Red River Delta. A typical northern Vietnamese village, where the majority of its resident spend half of the year being farmers. The other half of the years, their jobs vary. From making noodles to bath towels. Some leave the village during the free time to work elsewhere, only to return just in time for harvest days.

I’m not a village girl, not at all. When I was little, my father struggled to send me back to his village every summer holiday. I used to hate the idea. But now, I can’t thank him enough for such a decision. The village, the people, the scent of rice paddy, the heat of summer, green fresh vegetables patch from my grandma’s garden, the beautiful taste of guava, the cold sweet black bean dessert… They are all part of me.

I return to the village from times to times, only to find that time has left its marks and changes are evident. Some people in the village still remembered me, as ‘K.’s daughter or Aunty Six’s granddaughter’. I don’t recall their names although I still recognise some, like Aunty Seven (Dì Bảy). ‘Seven’ is not her name. She is the 7th child of their family, so we call her so.

I have always wanted to write about the food of a Viet northern village. But where do I start? The food is so simple, and there is never a recipe. The philosophy is simplicity and local, fresh ingredients. Most villagers go to the wet market daily to gather their ingredients for the day – meat, tofu, fish, sauces and perhaps some vegetables they don’t grow. Vegetables are from the garden. And rice is from their own harvest.

With such produces and simple preparation, I find that most of country (or northern Vietnamese) dishes often highlight one-two main flavours. Say, like this gingery braised chicken dish, the warmth of ginger and white peppers are dominant. We may use other spices, too, but only sparingly.

And of course, we love our fish sauce so it is one of the key ingredients in this dish. Choose your fish sauce wisely – it’s like olive oil. Good fish sauce has light ‘fishy’ aroma and sweet note. It adds such complexity of flavours to the chicken. I, however, find that not everyone is a fish sauce fanatic like us. In such case, feel free to substitute it with soy sauce.

Traditionally, chicken pieces are used to make the dish. I have opted for chicken wings and winglets since I’m too lazy to chop the whole chicken. Serve this with steamed rice and plenty of steamed vegetables. They go wonderfully together.

Vietnamese gingery chicken wings (gà rang gừng)

The key to this dish is fish sauce. Adjust the level of seasoning based on the flavours of your sauce. I recommend Three Crab brand (more here). And go bold with white pepper! If you like, lemongrass can also be added.

Ingredients
500-600g chicken wings or winglets, cleaned
1 fresh chilli, sliced
5cm-piece of ginger, skinned and thinly sliced
1/8 (more or less)cup good quality fish sauce (or light soy sauce)
Lots of freshly ground white pepper
Salt (optional)
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoons sugar (to taste)

Method
Marinade the chicken with fish sauce, ginger, chilli, ground pepper and salt for at least 30 minutes.
Heat the oil in a sauce pan over medium hear and add in the chicken. Stir occasionally, make sure that you won’t burn the meat.
As the chicken get just cooked and slightly brown, put in the sugar. You want the meat to be lightly brown while the dish is still saucy. Add in ½ cup of hot water. Continue to simmer slowly until the chicken is fully cooked and flavoursome (around 15 minutes).
Check seasoning. The final flavours should be gingery and peppery. Serve hot with rice and steamed vegetables.

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