Black Tea Roses Mooncake @ Purple Cane

It's that time of the year again where mooncakes are now seen almost everywhere, where bakeries and restaurants have already filled their shelves with this traditional delicacy.  This sweet pastry is a must at every Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节), or commonly known as the Mooncake festival.

Purple Cane, a popular tea house in Malaysia, offers a range of tea-infused mooncakes.  As this is something new to us, we decided to try one before actually buying a whole lot.  As recommended by the saleslady, we bought the Black Tea Rose Lotus Paste Mooncake (RM 8.70).

The pastry crust of the mooncake was added with ground black tea leaves while the lotus paste is infused with fragrant rose petals.  As you slowly sample the mooncake, you can savour the delicate and flavourful lotus paste.  The fragrance of the rose is not too strong until it overwhelms the lotus paste.  My parents really loved it, and so did we.

Purple Cane's tea mooncake is very suitable for those who are health-concious as it is not too sweet and not oily.  Add a pot of freshly brewed tea and it will be a perfect match.

A very unique thing about Purple Cane's mooncake is the way the mooncake is packaged.  Packed in a plastic, microvable container, the packaging is very cute.  It is very convenient, and definitely a good, hygienic way to store any leftovers (which I doubt there will be any) without having to scramble around to search for one.

The only setback is that the mooncake is a bit tiny than usual.  Weighing only 100g, you'll most likely able to make 6 slices only.

But despite that, I still prefer Purple Cane's mooncake given the quality that it offers.  As this is a once a year affair, why not just splurge a little bit for your loved ones to enjoy this healthier delicacy while slowly sipping hot tea under the full moon.

Happy Duan Wu Festival!

Duan Wu Festival (端午節) is a festival that falls on the 5th day 5th lunar month.  This year, it falls on Saturday, 22 June.

They were many different versions of why there is Duan Wu Festival.  But the version I listened as a little girl from Daddy revolves around the suicide of a loyal minister, Qu Yuan.

Qu Yuan was an important minister during the Chu Kingdom in China, who is a loyal advisor to the emperor.  Somehow, Qu Yuan's advice to the emperor was not heeded, and ultimately the Kingdom slowly fall to destruction.

Qu Yuan became very sad of the predicament of his beloved Kingdom and decided to throw himself into the River of Puo Luo on the fateful 5th day of the 5th lunar month.

The villagers, who were touched by his love for his country, threw rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves into the river to distract the fishes from eating Qu Yuan's body.  Some went as far as going down the stream in a boat while beating drums and shouting out loud, hoping it would scare the fishes away.

This tradition of making rice dumplings & the dragon boat festival continued until today.

What are the other versions of the Duan Wu Festival that you have heard?

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When you talk about Duan Wu Festival, I believe the first thing that comes into your mind is the rice dumplings (also known as zong zi 粽子), filled with glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo/lotus leaves.

Recently, there are many different kinds of rice dumplings.  Some goes as far as making it super luzury by putting in abalone slices & other seafood.

For me, the best rice dumpling is the traditional rice dumpling - filled with juicy pork belly, chestnuts, salted egg, mushroom & various beans, seasoned with dark soya sauce.  I just love how the beans integrate into the rice & that lovely tender pork, especially when served piping hot.  The most important is to have the rice seasoned well.

Warning note:  Do not attempt to eat more than one dumpling at one time as it can be pretty hard to digest (not to forget how unhealthy it can be if it was prepared with pork lard).  You don't really want to end up with a bloated stomach the whole day.

KS's mum recently made some rice dumplings, and I was lucky enough to taste the home-made rice dumplings (I was craving for it for the whole week!)

Home-made ones are really delicious and healthy because you decide what to put in and what to omit.  And most importantly, you can control the level of oiliness & saltiness.

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To-do-list:  Start learning how to make the rice dumpling!!