A Bangkok guide to a cake walk over the moon

Though it began as a celebration of the arrival of harvest, China’s Mid-Autumn Festival has become a global affair, and – outside of China – Southeast Asia is its epicentre.

The middle of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, when the full moon is at its most luminous, is now considered a time for families to unite in celebration, and mooncakes are centre stage.

This traditional Chinese pastry – which arrives in many shapes and sizes, as well as countless fillings – from lotus, egg yolk, durian, and even mint chocolate, to name a few – is held on the 15th day of the eighth month on the lunar calendar.

In Southeast Asia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam have elevated the festival to a national affair, while Bangkok has – of course – infused it with Thai flair.

In Thailand, mooncakes have been adapted to match local tastes and ingredients, though tradition is celebrated too. 

Here are some of The Nation’s top picks for places to purchase mooncakes this year:

• Man Fu Yuan Where tradition reigns

Singapore’s Cantonese restaurant Man Fu Yuan, which has several outlets across Bangkok, is renowned for its traditional recipes. Its Lotus Mooncake is no exception.

“Our lotus mooncakes with salted egg yolk are made with carefully selected lotus seeds. The aim is to maintain traditional flavours as much as possible. Man Fu Yuan’s traditional mooncake recipe has been passed down from my master,” Patrick Ng, international business food consultant, explained.

Man Fu Yuan follows traditional recipe for creating mooncakes – from carefully choosing lotus seeds when they are in season in March and April to making the pastry at a very high temperature.

The lotus mooncakes come in three flavours – lotus seeds with a single yolk, lotus seeds with macadamia, and the local favourite, durian with a single yolk.

For more information, visit their Facebook page, call (02) 955 0403 or email [email protected].

• Bang Lumpoo Mooncake A generational love affair

This mooncake shop, which opened more than 60 years ago in 1961, has been popular among Chinese-Thai residents of Bangkok for generations.

Jurapa Pruckchaikul, a third-generation owner of the shop, said it originated from her grandparents’ love for mooncakes. She said they had lots of children and grandchildren and used to distribute mooncakes among their family members and neighbours.

“Eventually, people talked my grandparents into opening the shop,” Jurapa said, adding that every generation has kept up the tradition of the family coming together to make mooncakes once a year.

Bang Lumpoo Mooncake serves four flavours: durian, mixed nuts and grains, black sesame seeds and lotus seeds.

The bestsellers are durian and mixed nuts and grains, Jurapa explains.

“The durian flavour is a testament to the abundance of the fruit in Thailand. Lotus seeds are also readily available in Thailand, and we have developed an efficient way of extracting them, so they play a big part in our mooncakes,” she said.

Despite the absence of a signboard, Bang Lumpoo Mooncake’s reputation has spread far and wide, from Songkhla and Narathiwat in the South to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai in the North.

The shop only opens for about a month before the Mooncake Festival and the dates are announced on its Facebook page. / Tel: (02) 281 1054

• Starbucks American appeal

Like always, this American coffee chain has come up with something special and exclusive for the Year of the Rabbit.

Apart from Starbucks’ eight signature mooncake fillings, namely coffee and salted yolk, matcha and red bean, durian and salted yolk, mint chocolate, mixed nuts, rose and berry, açaí berry, and mocha, it is offering three new flavours this year – purple yam, yuzu, and salted caramel.

Starbucks mooncakes are beautifully packaged in vibrant azure boxes that are part of the “Super Moon and the Bunny” collection.

These boxes come in two sizes, for two and four mooncakes. Customers can also opt for the classic or premium mooncake sets, which come in a limited-edition tote bag available in three colours – black, green and white.

The full range of mooncake flavours is available at all Starbucks branches nationwide.

• The Peninsula Bangkok

This luxury chain hotel, sitting on the bank of the River of Kings since 1998, is renowned for its limited-edition mooncakes that are only available once a year.

Each mooncake is hand-crafted in the kitchen of the hotel’s Chinese restaurant Mei Jiang. The chefs carefully follow traditional Hong Kong recipes, using sustainable ingredients like cage-free eggs and organic dairy.

The signature custard-filled mooncakes engraved with the traditional design of Chinese dragons are packed in bright red octagonal gift boxes. These boxes, contain eight mooncakes with an elegant lotus design, are made from entirely compostable materials.

According to Chinese folklore, the word eight sounds much like the words for “prosperity” and “good fortune”. That’s why a box of eight mooncakes from Peninsula Bangkok may be a perfect gift for loved ones.

This year the hotel is also offering 150 limited-edition mooncake box sets dubbed “Gift from the River” that each carry a special illustration by Thai artist, Faan Peeti. These boxes cost 5,888 baht each and all proceeds go to charity.

Orders can be placed by calling (02) 020 6969, by emailing [email protected], via Line ID @peninsulabangkok or website.