September 24, 2007

2007; Year of "The Golden Pig"

It's mid-autumn festival again! I've got my lanterns out all ready to celebrate! This year; it falls on Tuesday, the 25th of September.Not certain what festival I'm getting all excited about?; CLICK HERE for more information.

A year ago; I celebrated with a red bean+bunny rabbit theme.
This year... armed with a little more experience, skill and the discovery of canned lotus paste... I made these little golden piggies!
I'm quite certain most mooncake connoisseurs out there would shoot down the look and recipe of these little flaky babies for not being a Traditional Chinese "mooncake". Well... I admit; they aren't. They are filled with lotus paste, sesame seeds, chopped walnuts, flaked almonds and salted duck egg yolks. Oh; I must add... they are of the Shanghainese variety.
and..No; it doesn't mean I am Shanghainese...
I'm just a Cantonese girl with a kitchen unequipped with traditional intricate wood mooncake moulds with Chinese motives.
*laughs* I know the moulds aren't hard to find; they are available for sale from Asian supermarkets in wood/plastic forms and inexpensive too~ But think about it this way.... If I got off my lazy butt...made an effort to go down the street to get a "mooncake-shaper-mould-thingy"..and made mooncake the way everyone else did, We wouldn't have cute little piggies would we? *giggle*.

Filling recipe:
1 tin lotus paste
2 tbsps water
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup white sesame seeds
1/4 cup almond flakes
Cooked salted duck yolks

Combined all ingredients and microwave in a microwave safe bowl for 2 minutes. Stir to form a thick paste. Leave aside to cool while you prepare the pastry.Click Link for Pastry recipe and baking instructions.

Shape into piggies! add on a snout...stick on the ears...bake! Paint on the eyes..yaY! Golden piggies! remember to baste the pigs with a beaten egg yolk before you pop them in the oven for a nice golden sheen.


I loved how these tasted! They had a good crunch to them..and weren't as sweet with too much lotus paste overpowering the flaky pastry crust. I packed some of the mooncakes in tupperwares to share with friends. I couldn't imagine eating all of them on my own... it'll be too much mooncake for lil ol' me..

Who remembers these little caged piggies? In Cantonese, we call them "Ju jai peng" which means little piglet cookies!
They don't exactly resemble pigs much; neither do they contain any pork... but they do remind me so much about my childhood and beloved grandpa. Every mid autumn festival; he would buy these for his grandchildren as he brought them lantern shopping! We were the luckiest kids! We got to choose extravagantly decorated lanterns shaped into dragons, bunnies, flowers...cars, airplanes and all sorts; they were timeless moments for me. I miss my grandpa.
It wasn't about the lanterns or the "piggy biscuits" in colourful cages; it was more about us having our annual hunt for paper lanterns, special moments and memories shared only with my dear grandparents. The thought of lanterns bring me back to the times when I played with sis in our backyard...walked around with our lit lanterns... burnt ourselves with numerous naughty candle tricks.. sang songs on the swing as we watched the full moon...*sigh*
The Mid-autumn festival used to be about the end of a harvest season and delicious mooncakes/offerings; for me...its about family.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

ssssoooo cute~~~ They must have been eaten up very fast! - Love ur blog

Mandy said...

gosh, who would have the heart to eat these? THey are so cute!

Erin said...

These are adorable. I'm probably going to make your older recipe (the red bean ones, I LOVE red bean), but I think I'll make mine look like piggies too! What a great idea. :D Also, I just wanted to tell you that I love your blog, your photos are amazing, and I'm totally impressed with pretty much everything you have cooked. I envy your inventiveness! Keep up the great work. :]

Anonymous said...

The piggies are so cute. I miss paper lanterns too. When the battery operated lanterns emerged, they were so cool, every kids had one and showed them off. Then again, we had more fun with paper lanterns and candles.

Anonymous said...

Oh wow, those are so cute!

Anonymous said...

I really admire how u appreciate everyone and everything around u- u never forget ur roots and never fail to deeply appreciate ur family members. Well done!

Anonymous said...

i've come to the conclusion that IF, (and i mean IF when i said IF) i were either a lesbian, or born a guy, i would SOOO SOOO look for a partner/gf/wife like you!! lol... man,ure good!

i tried your cheater's ice cream cake during the weekend... wished i had the guts to take a picture though.. cos mine didn't look that good.. practice practice practice.. ahahaa.. have a nice day, suyin!!

shirls

Jayne said...

Those piggy's are wonderful,I couldn't bear to eat any of them!
You are so talented,thanks for sharing with us all :)

The artist princess said...

Happy Mid-Autumn Su-yin, I have an award for you so go to my blog and claim it - www.singairishgirl.blogspot.com

Letrícia said...

Those pigs are sooo cute!

lindsay said...

mmmm.. mooncake. happy mid autumn fest! they look deeeelicious.

cheers :)

CaLiStA said...

if u opened a shop in SG..i would make sure i'll patronise u at least once a week!

i love love LOVE the pink,white and gold cake! :)

Anonymous said...

Hi

amazing as always! But where do I find the salted egg yolks or should I do them myself????

greetz from germany,
rocco

Anonymous said...

This is soooo cute. I love little piggys.

Anonymous said...

HOW cute are those?! Good job! I didn't realize you could be so spot on with a baked good!

Monique said...

These little piggies are so cute! They certainly look more adorable than the traditional mooncakes! You're just so creative.

Su-Yin -Décorateur said...

Thanks guys for the lovely comments. Mid autumn festival was lots of fun!

shirls: thats scary and so sweet at the same time! haha

singairishgirl: thanks for the award :)

calista: I might be back there soon ;) will update everyone on my plans in the near future

rocco: hmm salted eggyolks can be bought already cooked from asian supermarkets..they aren't usually easy to find year round though; they begin to pop up everywhere as the mid autumn festival creeps up. Do you have chinese grocers in germany?

Thanks again guys! I love red bean and piggies too~ :P

Anonymous said...

Amazing! Just the kind of recipe I was looking for! Too bad it'll be way too late to make these for this year's autumn festival, though (and definitely will have to wait quite a while for another Year of the Golden Pig!!). But I'll definitely try them out anyway.