Cantonese · dessert
Mooncake
月饼 · Yuèbǐng
The iconic pastry of the Mid-Autumn Festival — a dense baked or snow-skin cake filled with lotus paste and salted egg yolk.
Mooncakes are the defining food of the Mid-Autumn Festival (zhōngqiū jié), held on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month (typically September or October). The most widely recognised style is the Cantonese baked mooncake: a thin, burnished, golden-brown crust of golden syrup pastry encasing a dense filling of lotus seed paste (liánróng) with one or two whole salted duck egg yolks at the centre, representing the full moon. The pastry is pressed in a carved mould to create decorative patterns, then baked and lacquered. A Suzhou-style variant uses flaky, laminated pastry. Snow-skin mooncakes (bīngpí) — an uncooked glutinous rice skin served chilled — have become popular in Hong Kong and major cities. Beyond lotus paste, fillings include red bean, mixed nuts and jujube, and luxury editions incorporate sea salt custard, truffle or cheese.
Where to try
Nationwide: sold at bakeries, hotels and supermarkets in the six weeks before Mid-Autumn. Premium versions sold in gift boxes at Cantonese bakeries and five-star hotel pastry shops in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai.
Dietary notes
Wheat, egg, lotus seed, sugar, salted duck egg (in classic version). Contains gluten and egg. Vegetarian. Nut-free in the lotus paste version.
Cities to try Mooncake
Other national dishes
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China's high-strength distilled grain spirit — the country's dominant drinking culture, ranging from fiery to complex and floral.
- Mooncakes月饼
Round dense cakes eaten at Mid-Autumn Festival. Lotus-seed paste with salted egg yolk is the classic Cantonese filling.
- Soy Milk豆浆
Freshly ground soy milk — China's everyday breakfast drink, served hot and either sweet or savoury depending on region.
- Tangyuan — Lantern Festival Style元宵汤圆
Glutinous rice balls with sweet or savoury fillings, served in a clear sweet broth — the defining food of the Lantern Festival.