From their beautiful crust to their tangy, chewy filling, mooncakes are a staple Chinese delicacy that you will never find missing from dinner tables during any Lunar holiday.
While every mooncake beholds the continuity of a beautiful Chinese tradition and caters to different tastes, as they say, not all mooncakes are created equal. This review will rank the four most popular mooncake flavors to make you a connoisseur the next time a lunar holiday rolls around.
Salted egg mooncake
Classy and simple: the salted egg mooncake is a staple flavor and often the most popular. The savory, oily salted egg yolk in the middle perfectly complements the sweetness of the lotus paste, meshing into a chewy and delightful blend of flavors. If one salted egg yolk leaves you wanting more, mooncakes with two yolks are also a popular option. The salted egg mooncake is a masterclass in flavor layering, which lands it in first place. Doubtlessly delicious — next!
Savory pork mooncake
In the realm of mooncakes, the savory pork mooncake stands as an outlier. As they are best enjoyed hot and freshly made, a mooncake connoisseur must purchase them from specialty pastry stores like the Kang Kang Food Court in Alhambra. These mooncakes are made from a flaky pastry crust that is baked with juicy, flavored pork meat inside — the result is a delicious salty inside that is perfectly balanced by the milder flaky crust. The savory pork mooncake has a short window for enjoyability while hot, making them difficult to share during special occasions. However, they remain a very great specialty snack for when you need a break from all that lotus paste. Second place!
Red bean mooncake
Red bean mooncakes are a popular variation of regular lotus paste mooncakes. Often paired with a salted egg yolk or chewy mochi center, this mooncake is made for those with sweet teeth. In the plural because they are really, really sweet. Even with a salted egg yolk, the red bean paste is too overpowering and will not contrast the saltiness nicely like the lotus paste. When you finish the milder center, you are left with miles of sweet red bean paste left to go on the side. Best enjoyed in smaller sizes than the traditional sharable option, the red bean mooncake ranks in third place. Enjoyable and great as an alternative — but hard to finish.
Five kernels mooncake
Of all the flavors of mooncakes, five kernels is the most surprising and memorable. In a good way? Not so much. Five kernels mooncake has a distinct archaic taste that is perfectly suitable for your grandmother who grew up on sweets made from nuts and oats. For the modern discerner, the tangy citrus combined with the savory, stabbing sharpness of the nuts creates an uncomfortable mouthfeel that will leave you confused and bewildered. Perhaps it’s an acquired taste, and I’ve yet to acquire it in my seventeen years of eating mooncakes.
