Mooncakes Season 2013 (Part II)

I had these photos in my camera and I thought I better post them before the season is over. We were playing with soft toys and food. Some of the mooncakes we had that was quite nice. Since I am posting it, I also have some photos of the mooncakes we receive in my day job office.

Yan Ting, St Regis Singapore.



The Care Bears is staring intensely at it, because the ones here is quite nice.
I realized I did not take photo of the whole box, many people have posted it, so you can take a look.



This flavour is the Royal Milk Tea Snowskin Mooncake with Red Bean Paste & White Chocolate Champagne Truffle.





I have this weakness for Royal Milk Tea flavours. The white chocolate truffle is quite delicious too. The thing about snowskin mooncake is that can eat quite a few of it at the same time!

These are quite good and they should still be available from St Regis' lobby.


Goods of Desire



This was the shown in the previous mooncake series earlier, but this was for the fun of it.
Care bears are giggling because of the cheeky butt.



Just to let you see what's inside the bum!


Wah Lok



This box of mooncakes is what we got from vendors in my day job.
Wah Lok has nice Cantonese food, so we were quite tempted to try it.

Not a fancy box that you will keep after consuming the moon cakes, but the design is like a lantern to me.



Open the box, and you see a piece of paper telling you it's from Wah Lok.



The colour of the skin of this baked mooncake is quite nice.
This was the White Lotus Paste with Single Egg Yolk.



It has a nice smooth texture, the white lotus paste looks quite good too!
It's the nicest of the many brands that we have in the office.


Park Hotel Group



I think many people got this. You see it on many people's Facebook pages.



It's from Park Palace, their Cantonese restaurant.

Our boss was saying is it from the Dim Sum place that we used to go? There's a voucher that gives you a whole signature Roast Duck if you spend a minimum of x number of dollars there. We are hoping boss will know what to do.




A darker colour than Wah Lok's, but it's nice looking.
Box is simple, and also not for keeping, so people in office aren't 'choping' it.



Taste is quite all right. Like most deliveries to work place by different vendors that supplies things to our office, it's not the snow skin type. We realised many colleagues in office prefer the snow skin variety.

One colleague's wife also make us snow skin varieties and it's the best we have so far in office! Thanks Mrs L! Make for us again next year!

We have gotten wary of some mooncakes too. Some look OK, but when you eat it, you get the runs. We had some last Friday and found out on Monday, the few of us all had stomach cramps and the 'ka boosh' and we instantly knew which one caused it. (It's not from the above, it's from a local coffee chain, we think they better stick to coffee)

 

Mooncakes Season 2013

The Mooncake season is almost here again and everyone's starting to think of where to buy this season's mooncakes from. Some people will stick to the same one and some will try new brands that they did not try last few years.

This week, the wife and I are already going to place orders so that we can get the both sides of parents, our uncle and aunties mooncakes. Yes, every year we do spend quite a bit of money on giving gifts. It's good that both the companies we work for, our HR organises bulk purchase that gives up to 30% off. We need to order them early to get discounts.

Here's some Mooncakes that my family and I have tasted over the few weeks. It's also to help you as you navigate through varieties available for sale.

1) The Ritz-Carlton Millenia Mooncakes by Summer Pavilion

We know of a friend whose family only gets Summer Pavillion's goodies. Some of you regular customers will be glad to know there's new flavours to try this season. Summer Pavilion has a new signature "Mini Snowskin Royal Milk Tea and Seaweed Mooncakes with Snow Lotus Seeds". Yes, it's a mouthful. That's the long name of one mooncakes and not two. (6 pieces for $48)



Also, regulars will be glad to know that their old favourites like Snowskin Lycheetini and Green Tea mooncakes will still be on sale this season.  The Summer Pavillion Mooncakes are handcrafted by Chef de Cuisine Fok Kai Yee and his team.

My mum used to make her own mooncakes and yes, I do know how to make them too after watching her. It's hard work. It might look easy as you see them knock the mooncakes out of the wooden or plastic moulds. It's not really that easy. I have destroy and wasted quite a few mooncakes. Sometimes it's easier to leave it to the professionals to do it. 




Many people decide on what to buy because of the boxes. My wife is one of them! You might be one of them as well. I am sure you have many colleagues who 'chope' boxes that your vendors might have deliver to your office too.

The Ritz Carlton boxes this year has a leather like cover with velvety feel inside. A very classy and yet contemporary gift for someone important. Maybe your boss, your future in laws.



Doesn't it just look beautiful? No restaurant name or brand stamped on to it, just a nice flowery design.

What about the taste of this new flavour: "Mini Snowskin Royal Milk Tea and Seaweed with Snow Lotus Seeds"? Someone was asking me and I replied it this way. If you have tasted the higher end Milk Tea (hint, the Japanese brand that starts with K, that also sells beer), it's almost like that. It has a aromatic fragrant yet it was not too overpowering taste.



That's how it looks when you cut it open. The bits in the centre are the seaweed. I was wondering wondering why the seaweed was not as I imagined. I am not a pastry chef, so I talked to one. I explained the texture and Aha!  she knew what it was, but was not going to let out their trade secrets. So I still don't know what kind of seaweed it is.  The 'seaweed' is crunchy,  delicate birds nest kind of crunchy, but without the salty taste you associate with seaweed. Go sample and try it out. Interesting!

For more information, surf on to Ritz Carlton's dedicated Mooncake website (https://www.rcmilleniapresents.com.sg/mooncake/index.html) for prices and early bird discounts. 

If you want more detail ordering information, you can call Summer Pavilion at +65 6434 5286 or email them at rc.sinrz.summerpavilion@ritzcarlton.com


2) Sheraton Towers Singapore Mooncakes by Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant

If you are looking into old classics, Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant might be what you are looking for. Probably suited for older folks or people you know are more traditional. Maybe if you have a traditional boss.



This year's box is a nice auspicious red box that is rectangular, compared to last year's squarish box. It has a nice Li Bai logo in the middle on top of the box. Classic, clean lines box design.

Li Bai's mooncakes are handcrafted by Chef Chung Yiu Ming and his culinary team.



It fits 4 mooncakes inside and the box also has a soft feel to it. It has 4 compartments after taking out the mooncakes, so ladies know what they can do with it.

OK, I admit, guys do like boxes too. I also know what to put inside, my techie stuff that I feel deserve a nice cosy resting place. It's upcycling these boxes right?

Out of the 4 flavours that Li Bai provided us, here's two that took to our family's delight.



I had more senior folks come over our place to try out these mooncakes. This was their pick. My uncle likes this Traditional Baked Mixed Nuts. Yes, it's an acquired taste and only certain people will like it. This year, they have a new twist to it, it's Mixed Nuts with Iberico Ham.  (4 pieces for $60)



I have tasted some of these mixed nuts mooncake since young, all sorts from different places, but I still it's not for me. My parent's generation who knows how to appreciate will says it's nice. Maybe when I get older, I will start to appreciate it. Of course different people likes different combination or ratio of the nuts and ham. This version is with Iberico Ham was OK with them. Do you think your folks will fall in love with it?



For some reason, this "Traditional Baked Yellow Lotus Seed Paste with Black Dates, Dried Longan and Wolfberries" did resonate with me.  (4 pieces for $57)

It's simple, yet I found it pleasantly good. I think it's probably the yellow lotus seed paste has a slight hint of the other ingredients. The lotus seed paste is still the main star here. I imagine if there's too much wolfberries, dates and dried longan, it will taste like a longan and dates drink instead. This was just nice for me.



Very nice thin layer of skin and the yellow lotus seed paste that has dates, dried longan and wolfberries in it. It was not too oily nor was it too sweet for me. Go try and see if you like it.

For more details, surf on to Sheraton's Tower Singapore's website.
If you want more detail ordering information, you can call Li Bai at +65 6839 5636 or email them at mooncake.singapore@sheraton.com


3) Butt Mooncakes by Hong Kong's Goods of Desire.

These are the cheekiest mooncakes I know this season. Definitely not for your bosses or parents / grandparents. Unless you are known to be the cheeky ones at home.

These mooncakes are made in Hong Kong and shipped in. They are made by Mei-xin Fine Goods which I read is a household brand in Hong Kong.



If you are a bit more 'banana' like me, you won't know what 'Ba Ye Shi Wu' (15th of the 8th Lunar Month) means. My colleagues saw this package arrive in the office and was laughing away. I asked why and he told me, if you wear your shorts or pants and accidentally exposed your buttocks, most people say, 'ba ye shi wu'. 

Now that you know it means exposing your butt, Goods of Desire is play with the word and created these Butt Mooncakes. Each mooncake has a lotus seed paste with a single egg yolk.



There are 4 'butt' designs available, namely一筒Bunny, 不求人Cover-Up, 单吊T-back and卡窿The Split. The one above is 'Bunny'. They cost $14.50 each or a box of 4 for $52. Creative and cheeky eh?

I wanted to laugh with all the comments that I got when I posted this on Instagram and my Facebook page. From a butt that's so lumpy to full of cellulite. Would you buy it?

Surf on to Goods of Desire Singapore's Facebook page for more information: https://www.facebook.com/goodsofdesire.sg
If you want more detail ordering information, you can email them at singapore@goodsofdesire.com


You know where to try these mooncakes out now. A few places, for example Takashimaya Square has sampling stations for most of the restaurants, bakeries and hotels selling mooncakes. Enjoy your mooncakes! Now to top up our Chinese Tea leaves as we prepare for the Mooncake season.

Mooncakes by Jewels Artisan Chocolate

Ding-dong! Ding-dong!

Our doorbell sounded and there's a guy outside with a nice little paper bag delivering a box of mooncakes to us! It's delivery from one of our top 5 places for macarons in Singapore.



A surprise from Jewels Artisan Chocolate.
It's not macarons this time, but Snow-Skin mooncakes!

A semi 3D style light green box was inside the package and in it there's 3 icy jewels!




The kind folks from Jewels Artisan Chocolate and Siriusart sent me 3 types of mooncakes to sample.



Hand made by the artisans from Jewels, these cold delights comes in limited quantity.

These mini snow skin mooncakes comes in boxes of 8 mooncakes, and prices are between $52.80 to $56.80. They have the traditional baked ones as well.


Now for the taste test:



Mini Snow-Skin Mooncake with Salted Caramel Truffle - $52.80 for a box of 8.

A ball of chocolate crust with salted caramel truffle inside, tasting slightly salty and sweet at the same time. The filling is smooth and velvety on the tongue.




Mini Snow-Skin Mooncake with Champagne Ganache Truffle - $53.80 for a box of 8.

A white chocolate ball with champagne ganache inside. It's a low sugar recipe, so it does not taste so sweet. When you open the package, a nice fragrance banana and champagne smell tempts you to want to pop it in your mouth!




Mini Snow-Skin Mooncake with Korean Black Garlic - $56.80 for a box of 8.

This sure is unique! Jewels have been making korean black garlic macarons, and now they have added it into their mooncakes as well. Black garlic has 10 times more anti-oxidants than normal garlic.

Garlic lovers and garlic PRE-lovers might want to taste it. It smells of garlic, but not a whiff of the pungent smell like fresh garlic. In fact, you don't really smell it from your nose, you can taste it on your tongue when you pop the mooncakes in. The black garlic has a sweetish and yet a slight vinegarish taste, a bit like pickled radish in korean banchans.




You can get these delicacies from now till 11 September 2011.
You can email them at sales@jewels.com.sg or call them at +65 6509 8998

If you want to grab it right now, make your way to:

Jewels artisan chocolate
Orchard Central
181 Orchard Road, #02-31/32.

Takashimaya Square
Basement 2 Ngee Ann City
391 Orchard Road.

Entertainment Centre Atrium (In front of Carrefour)
Suntec City Mall,
3 Temasek Boulevard.

If you want to view promotions of some offers, go to
http://www.facebook.com/Jewels.artisan.chocolate

Mooncakes - Dragon Phoenix Restaurant

Wishing all of you a very Happy Mid Autumn Festival.

Here's my final installment of 6 of the many mooncakes that colleagues and I have enjoyed these few weeks. I hope you have enjoyed reading about it too.

This bag was brought into our office by our boss. We were wondering why is he carrying such a huge bag. He said another box of mooncakes from our vendors.

In such a big bag? Yes! It was the most elaborate box we have this season!




The mooncakes are from Dragon Phoenix Restaurant.
They are courtesy of one of our vendor, IBM Singapore.

Dragon Phoenix is opened by one of the "4 Heavenly Chefs" of Singapore, Mr. Hooi Kok Wai.
(Mr Hooi and the other 3 heavenly chefs were said to have created the Lunar New Year Yu Sheng).




There's a big long red box inside the bag.




4 boxes of mooncakes inside the elaborate box.
We thought it was some case for a sword!




Inside the small boxes were the mooncakes.
It was different from other mooncakes because there was no plastic that covered the individual mooncake. It was also not as 'pretty' though. It's handmade the box says.




As the mooncakes were not individually wrapped in plastic, when we opened the box, the smell of the mooncakes fills the room. All four boxes were the traditional mixed nuts mooncakes.

Taste wise, people who ate it either loved it or hated it.

The smell is rather strong to me, but I think it is quite all right.
It was not love at first bite though, it was only after the third bite that I began to appreciate it.




We saw this interesting explanation about mooncakes on the box.
We always thought that the freshly baked ones are the best. These folks beg to differ.





I think folks in our office have enough of mooncakes.

There are other brands/flavours in our various home! I still have some Lotus Paste with Ginseng mooncakes from Peach Garden Restaurant at home. Interesting flavour eh? Mum also made some snowskin ones! We finished mummy's mooncakes long ago!

Mooncakes - NCS

This box of mooncakes that looks like a tiny chest is from one of our vendors - NCS.
We were curious who made it but there's no indication anywhere on the box who manufactured them.

We called them the NCS OEM mooncakes!




When you opened it, it looks very nice!
There's their logo on top.

The top layer had two mooncakes and 4 flower tea bulbs.
The bottow layer had two other mooncakes and a box that contained forks and knives.





These flower bulb teas look good as part of the box!





I have not tried the mooncakes yet. Maybe the later today or tomorrow.
Mooncakes are high in calories!




NCS does work for so many companies in Singapore.
Did you get any NCS mooncakes? ;-p

Mooncakes - Fairmont Hotel : Szechuan Court Restaurant

This box of mooncakes also from Fairmont Hotel / Swissotel was given by one of our colleague's brother to him. He shared it with us because he and his wife doesn't take alcohol.

These are the "Ping Pi" / Snowskin versions of mooncake made by Fairmont Hotel's Szechuan Court Restaurant.




Snowskin mooncakes always smells so good, doesn't it?
It's also served cold, so it's such a delight eating it.

This was how the box looks after you flip to the side the cover.




The selection of flavours.




Yellow - Champagne Truffle & Chocolate Ganache.
Just from the description we were already salivating!

Oh... we loved it!





Orange - Bailey's Chocolate.
Need I describe it for you? How many Bailey's fans out there?





Pink - Organic Muesli Chocolate.
This was the only flavour that our colleague ate. It's the only non alcoholic moonies.

The muesli mixed with the chocolate was a bit hard, so it was difficult to cut.
Taste wise, it was rather unusual, however it tasted good too.





White - Rum and Raisin Chocolate Truffle.
It was not as rum and raisin as you would expect compared to eating ice cream, it was nevertheless quite nice.





We were trying to taste all the flavours, so our tastebuds gets wonky nearing the end. So we seem to like the first two flavours more. We probably should eat it at different time to enjoy it more eh?

Many thanks to our colleague (or rather his brother) for our mooncake tasting session during tea break. ;-)