Mid-Autumn's another of those...childhood favourite festive periods, think paper lanterns, melting wax...lanterns that play mangled up fast tempo chinese/english songs..eating pomelo, nibbling piggy biscuits...moon gazing...chinese tea..and of course indulging in calorie busting mooncakes. Mooncake purchases begin as early as a month before, for my family. Somehow or rather, once Mid-Autumn's over...NOBODY touches mooncake anymore. ;) Almost like magic.
Ice-cream mooncake, chocolate mooncake...agar agar mooncake..and this year? Savoury Mooncake...think shrimp paste. My take on it...? Er...mooncakes ought to be sweet, from all the "brainwashing" done over the years. It's like...having ice-cream savoury.
I shall stick to the traditional and modern snowskin~ Every year my family tries out a different hotel, last year was Hilton Hotel and Raffles Hotel this year...
Pan Pacific Hotel; Hai Tian Lo (Traditional Mooncake with White Lotus Paste and Pine Nuts; $40 for a box of 4)
The gold packaging and drawer-like box makes this quite a luxel gift idea. Fell in love with it. Year in year out, hotels wow with their packaging, the all time favourite's Hilton's half crescent box that impresses in terms of size and relevance to the festival (think full moon when you open up the box)..personally find metal tins very passe, but perhaps goes well with the older folk, and in their opinion "classy".
Taste wise...not that oily but it also means it's less smooth. Not too sweet. I'd have to say not the best I've eaten though.
Ritz Carlton Hotel; Summer Pavilion
The one I tried, mini white lotus paste with chocolate filling. The size of 4 50-cent coins, came across as somewhat dry and very very very sweet. One question's on my mind: What the *blank* went wrong?
http://ritzcarltonmooncakes.com/
Fairmont Hotel; Sze Chuan Court (Mini Snowskin Selection; $48 for a box of 8)
Another Hotel that wows for packaging, their third design of the popular cheongsam series that started three years back. I joked with the F&B manager, maybe they should have a limited edition range next year...let's see how it goes! The hot pink's soooo girly! What makes Fairmont's design standout is..the interactive mirror that you can use after Mid-Autumn's over and done with! How...sweet is that! Very traditional yet modern at the same time, the mirror resembles the olden ones my grandma would've used.
In the box of 8..there's two of each type of snowskin, yellow (champagne), pink (their newest strawberry & dark chocolate), orange (baileys) and white (baileys).
Their liquor mooncakes rawk, fragrant and soft snowskin, melt in your mouth chocolate "yolks". Of the 3 liquor offerings; Baileys, Rum & Raisin and Champagne Truffle...I say oohlala to Champagne Truffle (the yellow one!). The essence of each mooncake's in the yolk...solid stuff. Doesn't give you a brain rush but very tantalizing indeed. I can eat one after another in one seating, that's how good it is. Serves as a perfect way to end a fulfilling meal too.
A tough fight between Fairmont and Raffles Hotel for the snowskin, though I have to admit the Raffles' snowskin is slightly more fragrant.
Tai Chong Kok; Snowskin mooncake ($5.5o per piece), Snowskin with Yolk ($6 per piece), Mixed nuts ($6.50 per piece)
There's a mix-up with the credit card promos, I always thought the one advertised in Citibank refers to the one in Chinatown, near Maxwell...apparently not!
Tai Chong Kok's one of those that reminds me so much of my childhood...the traditional paperbags, their mooncakes being individually packed into plastic containers...yes, the sellers are your apron clad ones and speak English (!!)...and word has it, their son is a high ranked in the civil service.
Anyway, very fresh snowskin they've got. No chillers for them because mooncakes are sold almost immediately after they are laid out.
Ice-cream mooncake, chocolate mooncake...agar agar mooncake..and this year? Savoury Mooncake...think shrimp paste. My take on it...? Er...mooncakes ought to be sweet, from all the "brainwashing" done over the years. It's like...having ice-cream savoury.
I shall stick to the traditional and modern snowskin~ Every year my family tries out a different hotel, last year was Hilton Hotel and Raffles Hotel this year...
Pan Pacific Hotel; Hai Tian Lo (Traditional Mooncake with White Lotus Paste and Pine Nuts; $40 for a box of 4)
The gold packaging and drawer-like box makes this quite a luxel gift idea. Fell in love with it. Year in year out, hotels wow with their packaging, the all time favourite's Hilton's half crescent box that impresses in terms of size and relevance to the festival (think full moon when you open up the box)..personally find metal tins very passe, but perhaps goes well with the older folk, and in their opinion "classy".
Taste wise...not that oily but it also means it's less smooth. Not too sweet. I'd have to say not the best I've eaten though.
Ritz Carlton Hotel; Summer Pavilion
The packaging and presentation's really nice! They comes in boxes of 8, 2 large and 6 minis as well.
The one I tried, mini white lotus paste with chocolate filling. The size of 4 50-cent coins, came across as somewhat dry and very very very sweet. One question's on my mind: What the *blank* went wrong?
http://ritzcarltonmooncakes.com/
Fairmont Hotel; Sze Chuan Court (Mini Snowskin Selection; $48 for a box of 8)
Another Hotel that wows for packaging, their third design of the popular cheongsam series that started three years back. I joked with the F&B manager, maybe they should have a limited edition range next year...let's see how it goes! The hot pink's soooo girly! What makes Fairmont's design standout is..the interactive mirror that you can use after Mid-Autumn's over and done with! How...sweet is that! Very traditional yet modern at the same time, the mirror resembles the olden ones my grandma would've used.
In the box of 8..there's two of each type of snowskin, yellow (champagne), pink (their newest strawberry & dark chocolate), orange (baileys) and white (baileys).
Their liquor mooncakes rawk, fragrant and soft snowskin, melt in your mouth chocolate "yolks". Of the 3 liquor offerings; Baileys, Rum & Raisin and Champagne Truffle...I say oohlala to Champagne Truffle (the yellow one!). The essence of each mooncake's in the yolk...solid stuff. Doesn't give you a brain rush but very tantalizing indeed. I can eat one after another in one seating, that's how good it is. Serves as a perfect way to end a fulfilling meal too.
A tough fight between Fairmont and Raffles Hotel for the snowskin, though I have to admit the Raffles' snowskin is slightly more fragrant.
Tai Chong Kok; Snowskin mooncake ($5.5o per piece), Snowskin with Yolk ($6 per piece), Mixed nuts ($6.50 per piece)
There's a mix-up with the credit card promos, I always thought the one advertised in Citibank refers to the one in Chinatown, near Maxwell...apparently not!
Tai Chong Kok's one of those that reminds me so much of my childhood...the traditional paperbags, their mooncakes being individually packed into plastic containers...yes, the sellers are your apron clad ones and speak English (!!)...and word has it, their son is a high ranked in the civil service.
Anyway, very fresh snowskin they've got. No chillers for them because mooncakes are sold almost immediately after they are laid out.
The baked one I tried is Mixed Nuts, their best seller. Mixed Nuts has a rather unique taste, either you love it or hate it. Filled with all sorts of nuts and orange peel...Sadly I belong to the latter, this particular flavour goes down rather well with the old folks though. Between TCK's Mixed Nuts and Fairmont's...TCK's stronger in terms of taste and probably closer to the "real thing", chuckloads of lard in it!
We also had Baked White Lotus Paste with Pine Nuts, simply good! Somehow, the traditional mooncake bakers get it all right. I tasted this after taking a bite from Ritz Carlton's disaster.
We also had Baked White Lotus Paste with Pine Nuts, simply good! Somehow, the traditional mooncake bakers get it all right. I tasted this after taking a bite from Ritz Carlton's disaster.
They specialise in mooncakes and all things traditional (think wedding biscuits!) Looks and assortment Tai Chong Kok has not...but one thing for sure, tradition runs strong.
Lau Chong Kee; Piggy Biscuits ($2 for a packet of 8)
A childhood favourite, thank goodness traditional mooncake houses still have them at more affordable prices. These biscuits are the remaining mooncake skin dough that are moulded into all sorts of shapes and sizes, the traditional way to go -- in plastic flower baskets. Hotels jack up the prices to nearly double, have yet to try one from the hotels yet but I'm good with Lau Chong Kee's.
Soft and chewy. Although not refined in terms of outlook but good enough.
Now..I'm just waiting for the full moon to complete this Mid-Autumn.
Lau Chong Kee; Piggy Biscuits ($2 for a packet of 8)
A childhood favourite, thank goodness traditional mooncake houses still have them at more affordable prices. These biscuits are the remaining mooncake skin dough that are moulded into all sorts of shapes and sizes, the traditional way to go -- in plastic flower baskets. Hotels jack up the prices to nearly double, have yet to try one from the hotels yet but I'm good with Lau Chong Kee's.
Soft and chewy. Although not refined in terms of outlook but good enough.
Now..I'm just waiting for the full moon to complete this Mid-Autumn.
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