Much ado about mooncakes

PETALING JAYA:

The mooncake craze in Malaysia is very real. Although the tradition dates back centuries to ancient China, mooncakes today come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and flavours.

But how much do you really know about this festive treat? Here are some fun mooncake facts to impress your family and friends this Mid-Autumn Festival.

1. Secret messages hidden in mooncakes

According to a Chinese folk legend, rebels used mooncakes to circulate secret messages during the 14th-century Yuan dynasty, when China was ruled by the Mongol-led dynasty.

The story goes that rebel leader Zhu Yuanzhang hid military messages inside mooncakes, coordinating a mass uprising on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival. As the Mongols reportedly did not eat mooncakes, the messages were able to pass under the radar.

Whether the story is fact or folklore, it has become one of the most enduring tales associated with the humble mooncake.

2. Mooncakes aren’t meant to be eaten straight out of the oven

Traditional Cantonese-style mooncakes are often left to rest for a day or two after baking. During this time, oil and moisture from the filling gradually migrate into the pastry, softening the crust and giving it the darker, glossier appearance associated with a well-rested mooncake.

The process is known as “hui you”, which roughly translates to “returning oil”.

So, if your mooncake looks a little dry or underwhelming straight out of the oven, it may simply need some time.

3. Durian mooncake supposedly has Singaporean roots

Unlike traditional mooncakes, which are baked, most durian mooncakes come in a soft, chewy snow skin. Keeping them unbaked and chilled helps preserve the fruit’s distinctive aroma and creamy texture.

Malaysia may be synonymous with durians, but the story of the modern durian mooncake originates from across the Causeway. Singapore bakery “Home’s Favourite” claims it introduced the “world’s first 100% durian snow-skin mooncake” in 2001.

According to the bakery, the mooncake was exported to Hong Kong in 2004, where it was featured on television, helping popularise the flavour. They say lah.

4. Sometimes, the packaging steals the show

Mooncake packaging can be almost as much of a talking point as the treats themselves.

In 2025, St Regis Kuala Lumpur offered a RM743.40 Luxury Mooncake Trunk designed like a miniature travel case, complete with gilded corners, latches and velvet-lined compartments. It came with four baked mooncakes, five-year Da Hong Pao tea and a Chinese tea cup set.

Another St Regis offering, 2023’s “Swarovski Mooncake Trunk”, featured more than 300 genuine Swarovski crystals and came with a 16.5cm mooncake containing eight yolks.

And the boxes can have a life of their own, with some people even reselling them online.

5. The massive record-breaking mooncake

Forget oversized birthday cakes – one mooncake made in Shanghai was big enough to need its own weighing scale.

On Sept 19, 2013, a team of 15 professional chefs created what Guinness World Records recognised as the world’s largest mooncake at Parkside Plaza at Changfeng and Shanghai Marriott Hotel Changfeng.

The finished mooncake weighed an astonishing 2,496.4kg and measured 2.57m in diameter. It took three days to make.

The ingredient list was just as enormous: 2,300kg of lotus-seed paste, and 4,000 egg yolks.

For perspective, that is roughly the weight of a large SUV and certainly not something you could casually cut up at the dinner table.

6. The spiral mooncake

Not all mooncakes have the smooth, golden crust most Malaysians are familiar with. Teochew spiral mooncakes, also known as thousand-layer mooncakes or lao bing, are known for their delicate, flaky pastry and distinctive swirl pattern.

Unlike a Cantonese mooncake, the Teochew version is made by carefully layering and rolling dough, before being deep-fried to create thin, crisp flakes. Traditional versions are typically filled with yam paste and a salted egg yolk.

While Cantonese mooncakes remain more familiar in Malaysia, Teochew versions have a long-standing following, particularly in Penang, with local bakeries in George Town still making it by hand.

7. Mooncakes have literally gone to space

In 2022, astronauts living aboard China’s Tiangong space station marked the Mid-Autumn Festival with mooncakes and lettuce they had grown in orbit. The astronauts had planted the lettuce seeds three months earlier and harvested two heads in time for the festival.

Three years later, the three astronauts of the Shenzhou-20 mission celebrated the festival aboard Tiangong with specially prepared red bean-paste mooncakes. They even broke one apart and shared it with each other in microgravity.

They may have been hundreds of kilometres from home, but at least they had an excellent view of the moon!

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