What oil is used to make mooncakes? Are sugar-free mooncakes truly sugar-free?

Mooncakes are also called moon cakes, small cakes, harvest cakes, reunion cakes, etc. They are one of the traditional foods of the Han Chinese. After being integrated with the dietary customs of various places, mooncakes of Cantonese, Shanxi, Beijing, Jiangsu, Chaozhou, Yunnan and other styles have emerged. The great poet Su Dongpo of the Song Dynasty praised mooncakes with a poem "small cakes are like chewing the moon, with crisp and sweet fillings inside", and the custom of eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival became more common. Mooncakes also have the symbolic meaning of "reunion".

Contents of this article

1. What kind of oil is used to make mooncakes?

2. Are sugar-free mooncakes truly sugar-free?

3. Why do we eat mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival?

What oil is used to make mooncakes?

Mooncakes can be made with salad oil, olive oil, peanut oil, lard, soybean oil, corn oil, rapeseed oil, etc. Cantonese-style mooncakes use more peanut oil because it is more fragrant. Chaozhou-style mooncakes and Suzhou-style mooncakes often use vegetable oils and lard.

Mooncake is one of the traditional Chinese Han delicacies. After being integrated with local eating habits, Cantonese, Shanxi, Beijing, Su, Chaozhou, Yunnan and other mooncakes have emerged.

The raw materials needed to make mooncakes include cooking oil, flour, water, sugar, various fillings, etc., among which Cantonese mooncakes also use alkaline water.

The fillings of mooncakes can be red bean paste, purple sweet potato puree, date paste, chestnut paste, five nuts, egg yolk, etc.

Are sugar-free mooncakes really sugar-free?

Sugar-free mooncakes are not really sugar-free. Most sugar-free mooncakes on the market are just "no added sucrose". Although there is no sucrose, some sugar-free mooncakes may contain maltose syrup (maltose). Mooncakes are mainly made of flour, and the main component itself is sugar, so sugar-free mooncakes are not really sugar-free.

The starch in the lotus seeds, beans, nuts, sugar in fruits, and flour in the mooncake crust can all be converted into glucose.

Mooncakes, also known as moon cakes, small cakes, harvest cakes, reunion cakes, etc., are one of the traditional Chinese Han delicacies.

The fillings of mooncakes are mostly made of plant-based seeds, such as walnut kernels, almonds, sesame kernels, melon seeds, hawthorn, lotus paste, red beans, and jujube paste.

Why do we eat mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival?

Legend has it that Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan, celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival with his civil and military officials. He looked at the round "Hu Bing" sent by Tubo with great interest, pointed to the bright moon in the sky and said that he wanted to invite the bright moon with a round mooncake. Later, the custom of eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival spread, and it was called "Yuetuan" in the Song Dynasty.

Mooncakes, also known as moon cakes, small cakes, harvest cakes, reunion cakes, etc., are one of the traditional foods of the Han Chinese. Mooncakes were originally used as offerings to worship the moon god.

Moon worship is a very old custom in my country. Moon cakes were the offerings to the moon god during the ancient Mid-Autumn Festival and are also seasonal food during the Mid-Autumn Festival. In ancient times, moon worship was held every Mid-Autumn Festival night.

The Han ethnic group eats mooncakes on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. The great poet Su Dongpo of the Song Dynasty praised mooncakes in a poem: "The small cakes are like chewing the moon, with butter and sweet fillings inside." This shows that mooncakes in the Song Dynasty already had butter and sugar fillings inside. In the Ming Dynasty, the custom of eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival became more common. Mooncakes also had the symbolic meaning of "reunion."