Tourists enjoy learning to make moon cakes with a 5-star chef

Performed by: Nam Nguyen | August 24, 2024

(Fatherland) - The thin crust, completely enclosing the lotus seed and salted egg filling inside, is the secret to making authentic mooncakes that visitors just experienced with a Hong Kong chef at the Hanoi hotel.

Recently, Hanoi Hotel organized a workshop to guide tourists to try making traditional moon cakes for this year's Mid-Autumn Festival.

With 30 years of experience making moon cakes and snacks of Hong Kong (China) cuisine , chef Li Jian Chuan - head chef at Hanoi hotel - guided visitors to try making traditional moon cakes for this year's Mid-Autumn Festival.

Guests are taught in advance about traditional and modern moon cake fillings.

Each guest in the workshop is provided with ingredients.

Cake crust, salted egg, white lotus seed filling, flour, mold and baking tools are carefully prepared

Ms. Duy Thanh shared: "I am very excited to learn how to make moon cakes. Indeed, making a moon cake with traditional flavor is not easy at all."

Hanoi hotel chefs give enthusiastic instructions to students.

Holding the soft, smooth lotus seed filling in his hand, chef Li Jian Chuan gave instructions and confided: "I have been making moon cakes for nearly 30 years, including 9 years in Vietnam. The 3 fillings that I like the most are white lotus seeds, red beans and five-spice mixture. Today I will guide you to make moon cakes with white lotus seeds and salted egg yolk filling."

According to this chef's method, the lotus seed filling is rolled into a ball and then a small hole is made just enough to place the salted egg inside. The egg is not completely wrapped around the lotus, but left a little open.

"The salted egg acts as a stopper to prevent air from getting into the filling. This will help the cake to bake evenly and beautifully without cracking," Mr. Chuan explained.

Next, the maker takes a little dry flour and sprinkles it on the baking mat and rubs it evenly with both hands to prevent it from sticking. The crust is flattened, rolled into a circle about 12cm in diameter and placed on the palm of the hand. The previously made filling is placed in the middle of the crust, turned upside down so that the salted egg yolk is exposed underneath (at this time the filling is like a blanket). One hand holds the filling, the other hand rubs evenly so that the dumpling skin covers both the lotus seed filling and the salted egg yolk. The difficulty of this method is to wrap the filling tightly in the crust, and press lightly to ensure the salted egg yolk is completely inside the lotus filling. Finally, the cake is shaped with a mooncake mold.

Wearing a neat apron, Ms. Nguyen Hien (Dong Da district, Hanoi) could not help but be excited because although she eats moon cakes every year, this is the first time she has tried making this traditional cake herself.

Under the guidance of the Hong Kong chef, Ms. Loan found that making mooncakes was not as difficult as she thought. "After today's experience, I may try making mooncakes this Mid-Autumn Festival as a gift for my family," Ms. Hien shared.

After shaping, the cakes are placed in the marked position on the baking tray and baked in a special oven. At the end of the experience, each visitor gets to take home the finished product, a lotus seed mooncake that they have just made themselves. Whether it is a cake with a beautiful, floral face or a misshapen cake, everyone is happy with this relaxing experience.

The experience session is also a place for women to exchange and share their passion for baking.

Source: https://toquoc.vn/du-khach-thich-thu-hoc-lam-banh-trung-thu-voi-dau-bep-chuan-5-sao-20240824130710295.htm