This Year's Most Creative Mooncakes Are Filled With Caviar, Truffle, and Abalone

The annual Mid-Autumn Festival sweet treat gets creative with unconventional fillings that defy the imagination. Here are some of our top picks from Hong Kong's most innovative purveyors.

When it comes to putting a spin on the original, few Chinese festive treats—such as rice dumplings for Dragon Boat Festival or Chinese New Year puddings—are reimagined as often as mooncakes. Every year, creative bakers and confectioners develop innovative new variations on the traditional dessert. If you are looking for an unconventional boxful that goes beyond the tr aditional versions filled with lotus seed paste with egg yolks or creamy custard, take a look at our picks of the most unusual offerings available this year.

Osmanthus Mooncakes from Wai Yuen Tong

Above Photo: Courtesy of Wai Yuen Tong

Founded in 1897, traditional Chinese medicine company Wai Yuen Tong is revitalising the traditional sweet pastry with a youthful new look and fresh flavour combinations. The revamped mooncake, launching this year, is a recipe with a touch of fruity citrus and floral notes thanks to the osmanthus infused into the conventional white lotus seed paste, a welcoming contrast to the filling's typically cloying sweetness. The Wai Yuen Tong miniature citrus and osmanthus mooncakes are priced at HK$195 for a box of six.

How to order: Online orders are available via the Wai Yuen Tong website.

Wai Yuen Tong, Shop A-B, G/F, Po Wing Building, 108-120 Percival Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong; +852 2561 3620

Matcha Mochi and Bakkwa and Pork Floss Mooncakes from Shang Palace

Above Photo: Courtesy of Kowloon Shangri-La Hong Kong

Created and crafted by the team led by executive Chinese chef Cheung Long-Yin, the new mooncakes at the Kowloon Shangri-La cover the basics with an added twist—rose sugar is infused with lotus seed paste, for example, and sweetened taro filling is used for the Teochew-style laminated lard pastry mooncake. The most interesting twists come in the form of the hotel’s two newest mooncake varieties: the bakkwa and pork floss mooncake and miniature matcha mooncakes with red bean, yuzu paste and mochi. Celebrated throughout Asia, bakkwa is a sweet-and-salty meat jerky often sold warm. Cheung incorporates the treat with dry pork floss to create a savoury and sweet filling. The matcha variety takes on multiple sweet elements—stewed adzuki beans are mixed with yuzu and soft mochi and set inside a matcha-flavoured mooncake pastry.

How to order: Online orders are available via the Shang Palace website. Receive a 20 per cent discount for purchases of mooncakes if you place your order on or before 19 August.

Shang Palace, Lower Level I, Kowloon Shangri-La Hong Kong; 64 Mody Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong; +852 2733 8754

Pork Mooncakes from Feather And Bone

Above Photo: Courtesy of Feather And Bone

Local meat and produce purveyor Feather And Bone have recently launched their first mooncakes for Mid-Autumn Festival. Unlike most varieties where a caramel-laced pastry is filled with a sweet, often creamy filling, the butcher shop’s varieties are inspired by a traditional meat pie. The pork mooncakes are filled with bacon-wrapped meat filling consisting of Australian free-range pork and Tuscan lardo di Colonnata, or cured pork fat. The meat filling is seasoned with sage, thyme, garlic, and nutmeg and is encased within a butter-rich flaky pastry. The Feather And Bone pork mooncakes are best served warm, and are available in boxes of two, priced at HK$178 for two.

How to buy: In-store and online from September 1, 2020

Feather and Bone; G/F, 18 Gage Street, Central, Hong Kong; +852 2325 8570

Abalone Mooncakes from Reign Abalone House

Above Photo: Courtesy of Reign Abalone House

Abalone specialists Reign Abalone House are celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival with two different kinds of mooncakes, filled with black truffles and abalone. Among the four varieties of mooncakes available from the local brand is the signature rich custard mooncake filled with diced South African abalone. A variation on the signature will replace the abalone with black truffles from Umbria, Italy—the new truffle custard mooncake boasts the distinctive earthy aroma of the beloved fungus. Also available at Reign Abalone House are more traditional egg lava custard mooncakes and chocolate mooncakes with Moutai spirit.

How to order: Online orders are available via the Reign Abalone House website.

Reign Abalone House, Shop 18, B2/F B201, K11 Musea, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong; +852 3468 5188

Caviar Mooncakes from the Royal Caviar Club

Above Photo: Courtesy of Royal Caviar Club

Royal Caviar Club debuts mooncakes this year, with a limited run of 1,000 boxes. A collaboration with chef Nick Chew, formerly of Le Comptoir’s Bibo restaurant in Sheung Wan, the luxury mooncake is a savoury one best served chilled. The brand new caviar mooncake consists of a mild glutinous mochi wrapper holding 10 grams of the brand’s Royal Cristal caviar, truffled potato, and a generous helping of Australian winter black truffles. The savoury treat is available in box of four, available at HK$1,380 per box from now until September 11, and HK$1,800 for orders between September 11 to 25.

How to order: Online orders are available via the Royal Caviar Club website.

Topics

Mooncakes Mid-Autumn Festival