Chinese Mooncake Festival (Mid Autumn Festival)

Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhongqiu Jie (中秋节) in Chinese, also known as the Mooncake Festival or Moon Festival, is one of China's biggest holidays. 

For 2023, it will be celebrated on Sep 29, 2023.

Similar to American holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, the Mooncake Festival these days is about family reunions and good eating, where mooncakes are a traditional food gift.  Would just like to point out a significant event that can be traced back to the 14th century when China was ruled by the Mongols.  The event really gives cause for celebration.

"Planning a rebellion against the Mongol emperor, Chinese rebels came up with the idea of hiding a secret message inside mooncakes, which the Mongols did not eat. These mooncakes told rebels to rise up on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival. The uprising was successful, and henceforth the Mid-Autumn Festival was celebrated with mooncakes everywhere in China."  

(Source: Mooncakes in Mid Autumn | Desserts First)

Recycling a post from my lifestyle blog, Joie de Vivre Magazine and embellishing it a little bit more.  There are lots of people participating in the festivities so finding related or similar articles was super easy.  Hope you like the content shared.

Holidays and Festivals :
Chinese Mooncake Festival

https://varugab.tumblr.com/post/96456695851/asian-art-history-finals-infographics

Mid Autumn Festival 2017 - 20 Mooncakes That Even Chang Er Will Love

It's almost Mid-Autumn Festival again, the 15th day of the eight month on the lunar calendar (which falls on October 4 this year) when the moon is full. The traditional way to celebrate this festival is by indulging in mooncakes. Every year, we are spoilt for choice when it comes to the mooncake flavours available.

Why Chinese People Eat Mooncake During This Time of the Year
The Mid-Autumn Festival (also the Mooncake Festival or Lantern Festival) is considered to be one of the most significant festivals for Chinese people. Celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese calendar, the 3,500-year old tradition is commonly observed all over the world to worship the moon, celebrate the harvest season, ...

Happy Chinese New Year: My Picks for Top Four (4) Chinese TV Chefs

As my way of celebrating Chinese New Year, I am sharing a quick profile of my 4 favorite Chinese TV chefs and couple of fun facts related to Chinese New Year.  How do you know you love Chinese food? When everywhere you go, you ask for directions to the best Chinese restaurant. Not me. My late husband. But I wholly supported him in his quest. No matter which city we visited or wherever we lived, we looked for a Chinese restaurant. Once we found a good one, we were loyal customers. Sometimes we would leave the kids, sneak out of the house and go have lunch. Other times we would order take-out, go pick up the food, and then enjoy dinner at home. On rare occasions we actually got to sit down in a nice restaurant and enjoy a meal together.  In addition to dining out or enjoying take-out, we loved watching cooking shows on television. Below are four (4) of our favorite Chinese chefs.

- Martin Yan

- Ming Tsai

- Ching He Huang

- Kylie Kwong

Martin Yan ~ We loved his show because he would always teach you one Chinese word and we liked to hear him say “If Yan can cook, you can too!” He was very encouraging and got us to try some Asian recipes at home.  TV SHOWS:  Yan Can Cook; Martin Yan's Hong Kong; Martin Yan – Quick & Easy

Ming Tsai ~ Ming Tsai's parents sent him to a cooking school in France. His television show combined the cuisines from both the East and the West. I especially liked the episodes where his parents were on the show cooking with him in the kitchen. Even though he is a professional chef and owns restaurants and has received awards, he still asks his mom for directions and cooking tips.  TV SHOWS:  East Meets West; Simply Ming

Ching He Huang ~ She said that as a child, she was taught how to cook by her grandmother. When she grew up, she went to a school and received training to cook professionally. One of her teachers praised her as being the best in the class and said he knew when she left school, whatever she decided to do, she was going to be successful. She had one TV show that aired from the UK, She was so good that she was invited to have her own cooking show in the US as well, in San Francisco, California.  TV SHOWS:  Chinese Food Made Easy; Easy Chinese San Francisco

Kylie Kwong ~ This lady chef is also a food caterer. Sometimes she shows how she prepares food to serve large crowds. Other times she prepares a meal for a small group of guests in her home. No matter what she cooks, it looks fabulous and your mouth waters.  TV SHOW:  Kylie Kwong: Heart and Soul

All of these chefs have published cookbooks. As this is a global community I am not sure if these shows are available worldwide. But if you get a chance, watch either or all of these TV cooking shows listed above. If you love Chinese food, you'll be delighted!

FUN FACTS:

Chinese New Year for 2021 will be February 12th. It is the Year of the Ox. (Source)

Seven (7) Typical foods eaten on Chinese New Year are:  1. Fish — an Increase in Prosperity;  2. Chinese Dumplings — Wealth;  3. Spring Rolls — Wealth;  4. Glutinous Rice Cake — a Higher Income or Position;  5. Sweet Rice Balls — Family Togetherness; 6. Longevity Noodles — Happiness and Longevity;  7. Good Fortune Fruit — Fullness and Wealth (usually tangerines, oranges, and pomeloes).   Source)

(Image credits - ClipArtKey and Pixabay)

Original Source

Food Blog Spotlight: Pork Lo Mein - Make Takeout at Home | The Desert Cook (Reblog)

Food blogger Candy Dorsey publishes her own blog and also food-related Wizzley pages (see widget below). Reblogging / sharing the link to her post about pork lo mein. It's a Chinese takeout dish for you to make at home.  Not only is the dish delicious and easy to make but did you know that for the Chinese people, noodles are a “symbol of longevity”?


Pork Lo Mein - Make Takeout at Home |
The Desert Cook

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For those who celebrate, Chinese New Year, Candy also has a recipe for Chinese New Year Balls, which I'm sharing as well.  The new year celebrations for 2020 have come and gone, but every year is a new year!  Chinese New Year for 2021 will be February 12.  Mark your calendars.

Always wishing you peace, prosperity, good health and a long and wonderful life!

Chinese New Year Balls

Chinese New Year Balls

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1/4 cup sugar 2 tsp. baking powder dash of salt Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl stir together all wet ingredients. Add to flour mixture all at once and stir just till moistened. Heat about 2" of cooking oil in a deep pot.

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Candy's Recipes on Wizzley!

Foodie Friday : Chinese New Year Recipes and Dishes

The food-related topic of choice for this week's foodie Friday should be obvious.

Chinese New Year!

At our partner blog, My Blog Stop!, two posts were published discussing this wonderful holiday celebration with its traditions.

• MBS Post 1:  " ... Flowers are an important part of the decorations for the Chinese New Year celebration. ..." read more.

• MBS Post 2:  "... symbols of prosperity ... Tangerines and oranges to be specific.

"The bright orange color of the fruits also symbolizes 'gold'; hence it has an auspicious meaning to bring in good luck and wealth." ..." read more.

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People all around the world are celebrating. One of my favorite Asian TV chefs, Ching-He Huang, was a guest on the TODAY show and she briefly shared her good luck recipes to begin the new year. Her recipe for the main dish was Golden Chinese Five Spice Orange Roast Chicken. So many others are sharing their recipes and favorite dishes all around the web. There are so many to choose from. Clearly can't share them all, but hope to do like my selections. 

Happy New Year!!

10 Dishes To Celebrate Chinese New Year 2017: Year Of The Rooster

10 Dishes To Celebrate Chinese New Year 2017: Year Of The Rooster

Happy Spring Festival! Whether or not you have Chinese roots, more and more people the world over are celebrating Chinese Lunar New Year. Falling on Jan. 28 this year, traditionally, it is a time for families to get together and have an annual dinner, as well as sweep the house to make way for good [...]

TV chef Ching-He Huang's top tips for authentic cooking for Chinese New Year

TV chef Ching-He Huang's top tips for authentic cooking for Chinese New Year

It's Chinese New Year and millions of people around the world are getting ready to welcome in the Year of the Rooster. If you're one of them make and you're planning on celebrating, there's no doubt your favourite Chinese dishes will be making an appearance.

Chinese New Year Recipes | BBC The GoodFood

Planning your Chinese New Year feast? We've got some recipe suggestions - 42 to be exact... https://t.co/9h7mqLbfdt pic.twitter.com/EbW5G8TmWz

— BBC Good Food (@bbcgoodfood) January 27, 2017

Ginger Orange Pound Cake Recipe

Ginger Orange Pound Cake Recipe

There is one classic dessert my husband and I can't resist - nothing fancy or over the top, just the simple, sweet and soft yumminess of pound cake with a good cup of tea! Over the years I've experimented with many flavours in this simple recipe, from the good old plain vanilla to cardamom spiced and, of course, the chocolate version.

Nian Gao - Chinese Coconut Sticky Rice Cake - The Schizo Chef

Nian Gao - Chinese Coconut Sticky Rice Cake - The Schizo Chef

This week I am presenting some foods that are traditional for different global festivals. Chinese New Year is a holiday that is celebrated in many countries around the world, due to global Chinese migration. Almost every country in the world has a Chinese population and this is the most celebrated holiday that is always acknowledged ...

Traditional Chinese New Year recipes to cook at home

Traditional Chinese New Year recipes to cook at home

Shiitake chive dumplings by Jeremy Pang Want to have a go at making your own Chinese dim sum? Jeremy's recipe includes a useful guide to making these wonderfully crispy shiitake and chive dumplings, with tips on how to perfectly wrap and shape them.

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Yee Sang (Prosperity Toss Salad) | Malaysian Chinese Kitchen

Yee Sang (Prosperity Toss Salad) | Malaysian Chinese Kitchen

“... for the Chinese people, noodles are a “symbol of longevity”.

Happy New Year!!

Previous #FoodieFriday posts? Pesto Around the World  Experiencing the Joy of Salsa   Spice Spotlight: Cinnamon  It's Flipping Foodie Friday!  Raw Coconut Fig Slice (Reblog)  Winter Salad Binging  Banana Brownies - Back for Seconds  Cool Foodies and Food Lovers Celebrating Their “Firsts” on Twitter