At its heart, the mooncake symbolises togetherness. These timeless, golden pastries, filled with sweet delights and adorned with intricate designs, are central to the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival. Their round shape mirrors the full moon, serving as a delicious reminder of family reunions, unity, and completeness that the festival represents.
Every year, as the festival approaches, the fragrant aroma of mooncakes fills the air, signaling that one of the most meaningful celebrations is just around the corner. Chefs at Mandarin Oriental, Macau, work diligently to craft some of the most beloved versions of these pastries in the city. On the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, families light lanterns, indulge in mooncakes, and gather to celebrate together.
The baking of a MO icon
Leading the pastry kitchen is Senior Chinese Chef Chan Kuong Wa, who joined the property in the late 1980s and has been crafting the mooncakes at the hotel’s Mandarin Oriental Cake Shop ever since. Drawing on the knowledge passed down from masters before him, he meticulously creates the quintessential delicacy following traditional methods from the Guangdong area.
Each mooncake shell is prepared by hand, kneading flour, sugar, and oil before the pastry team fills each confection with delightful fillings made from scratch in-house with carefully sourced ingredients. As tradition would have it, each piece of dough is weighed by hand, to the gram, to ensure it fits the traditional wooden mould precisely. Making mooncakes is a time-consuming process, requiring about two hours from kneading to moulding and baking. Without resorting to industrial methods, the hotel produces an average of 30,000 of these traditional confections each holiday season.
[See more: Fifteen years an icon: Celebrating Mandarin Oriental, Macau]
Moulding and baking are the most challenging steps, and the chef provides close guidance to kitchen staff who are new to the craft. “When they press the dough, they need to be careful enough to keep the egg yolks inside in place. At the same time, when the pastry is pushed out, it might tear,” he warns.
At the hotel, mooncakes are typically filled with a mix of nuts or seeds (known as “five kernels”), or lotus paste, but more flavours are turning this traditional pastry into a modern delicacy.
It’s in the preparation of the filling that the chefs embrace innovation. “Modern flavours are milder,” Chef Chan says, “we’re now incorporating flavours like rose and lemon.”
Though innovations are welcomed by guests and allow the chefs to play with the element of novelty, the property’s most popular creation has been around for a while. The pandan mooncake, made with the tropical plant native to Southeast Asia known for its naturally sweet and fragrant taste, beautifully reflects Mandarin Oriental’s Asian roots and heritage. This mooncake has been a mainstay at the Mandarin Oriental Cake Shop, included in its thoughtfully designed mooncake boxes since its creation over a decade ago.
The chef notes that the pandan mooncake was his own innovation, one that’s exclusive to the property and inspired by his many colleagues from Malaysia and Singapore.
“Our goal is to blend the celebration with our brand’s unique identity, ensuring we honour its essence by sharing homemade mooncakes with family and loved ones during this meaningful occasion,” explains Chef Chan.
Every year, Mandarin Oriental launches a new mooncake, and this year sees the introduction of a classic Chinese ingredient found in many households: red dates. “Red dates symbolise a sweet life and harmony, making them a meaningful gift during the Mid-Autumn Festival.”
Thoughtfully packaged gifts
The hotel’s elegant Oriental Elegance mooncake box is available at the Mandarin Oriental Cake Shop and online – Photo courtesy of Mandarin Oriental, Macau
Available in red, a symbol of celebration and good luck, and silver, associated with prosperity and wealth, this year’s custom-made mooncake boxes pay homage to Macao with delicate designs of the city’s ubiquitous lotus flower.
Inside, four mooncakes are kept in golden-coloured, circular boxes reminiscent of coins. They tell the story of the festival and the property: the fragrant pandan, the timeless lotus seed, the textured five kernels, and this year’s exclusive, red date. The chef describes the red date mooncake as a cherished classic and a discerning choice for the health-conscious, artfully crafted from pure, steamed fruit.
