(), also called moonlight cake, Hakka mooncake, and sometimes referred as Hakka mooncake biscuits or Hakka Moonlight cake in English, is a form of traditional

mooncake A mooncake () is a Chinese bakery product traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節). The festival is primarily about the harvest while a legend connects it to moon watching, and mooncakes are regarded as a delicacy. ...

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka-speaking Chinese, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas, are a southern Han Chinese subgroup whose principal settlements and ancestral homes are dispersed widely across the provinces of southern China ...

origins. It is a white, flat and disc-like

biscuit A biscuit is a flour-based baked food item. Biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be savoury, similar to crackers. ...

which typically features carvings and paintings of flowers and animals on its top surface as adornments. It was traditionally used as offerings to the moon on the

Mid-Autumn Festival The Mid-Autumn Festival (for other names, see § Etymology) is a harvest festival celebrated in Chinese culture. It is held on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar with a full moon at night, corresponding to mid- ...

. It is also consumed by the Hakka diaspora and/or people of Chinese and/or Hakka heritage in countries outside of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, such as countries in the regions of

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

(

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

Ingredients

The is mainly composed of two ingredients:

glutinous rice flour Domestication syndrome refers to two sets of phenotypic traits that are common to either domesticated plants or domestication of animals, domesticated animals. Domesticated animals tend to be smaller and less aggressive than their wild counterp ...

and

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

. If there is any fillings inside the cake, it is usually candied winter melon,

desiccated coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the f ...

, and

sesame seeds Sesame (; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a plant in the genus ''Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for it ...

which is mixed with glutinous rice flour, sugar,

margarine Margarine (, also , ) is a Spread (food), spread used for flavoring, baking, and cooking. It is most often used as a substitute for butter. Although originally made from animal fats, most margarine consumed today is made from vegetable oil. The ...

, and

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

Outside China

Africa

The continues to be produced, sold, and consumed on the island of Mauritius by the Sino-Mauritians community during the

as a traditional custom and practice. The has been introduced by the Hakka diaspora and their ancestors, where it is called ''Niat Kwong kow'' (;

Hakka Chinese Hakka ( zh, c=, p=Kèjiāhuà; '' Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: '', zh, c=, p=Kèjiāyǔ; '' Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: '') forms a language group of varieties of Chinese, spoken natively by the Hakka people in parts of Southern China, Taiwan, some diaspora areas ...

: ngiad6 guong1 gau1) but is more commonly referred by its local Mauritian creole name as ''gato lalune'' () although the term ''gato lalune'' is also applied to several forms of mooncakes, including the '' Niat piang'' ().

References

External links

Recipe of Hakka Mooncake Biscuits

Image of commercialized Hakka mooncake
{{Portal bar, Food, China, Taiwan Autumn traditions Moon in culture Stuffed desserts Culture of Mauritius Chinese cakes

Ingredients

Outside China

Africa

See also

References

External links