Happy (late) Mid-Autumn Festival

Moon cakes are the traditional treat passed around during the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. They are also one of my favorite pastries. Matt got me a moon cake mold a couple of years ago, and I've made several batches. This recipe is the best yet. I like red bean paste filling, but I'm particularly fond of sweet red bean stuff. You can use other sweet fillings too. When I was in Beijing, my European friends took a couple of months to realize that the brownish stuff oozing out of the pastries in the window was bean paste and not chocolate. This was a serious disappointment for them, but not for me.

Forming the cake without mangling it is tricky.

Moon Cakes

• 2/3 cup corn syrup or simple syrup
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 2 3/4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 can black or red sweet bean paste
• 1 egg
  

1. Mix the first 4 ingredients together to form a soft dough. Divide into 12 pieces and roll into balls. Flatten each ball into a circle using plenty of flour to keep it from sticking.
   
2. Place a tablespoon of into each dough circle and gently place into the moon cake mold. Close the dough over the filling and whack the mold to get the cake out.
   
3. Bake cakes for 15 minutes at 350F.
4. Brush with an egg wash made from one beaten egg with 1 Tbsp water and bake another 15 minutes until golden.

Northern China cooking in Colorado

In 2008, I studied/worked in Beijing for four months. What an endlessly enthralling city. I could spend hours wandering around old areas of the city, watching the people, eating the food, and marvelling at a culture that places so much importance on family and food. If you take someone out to eat and no food is left sitting on the table, you are a very bad person. For more about my China experience, see my travel blog.


And oh, the food! I loved getting hot bing (flat bread with tasty addition) from the streets and markets. Fried omlettes with spicy sauces and fried things, sichuan hot pot so flavorful you could cry, bao with vegetables or barbequed pork or eggs, simple vegetable dishes. And no frickin' rice if you didn't want it. My favorite was always beef noodle soup. I first had it while visiting a high school friend who was teaching English in Western China. We went to a little shop called 牛面大王. Beef noodle big king. (big wang = big king). I later found out that there were many variants of this name on unrelated noodle shops throughout the city. The cooks would take a chunk of dough and pull it long. Then fold it over and pull it again. And again. And again and again before throwing it into a pot of boiling water. These guys give a new meaning to fresh noodles. Add in some delicious spicy beefy broth, some beef chunks, veggies, and cilantro, and you have a winning combo. Some key ingredients to the flavor: star anise and sichuan peppercorns. Don't eat them from the soup, or you'll be sad.


I ate this at every chance I could (not hard considering the university cafeterias served it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner), but have been unable to find it or successfully reproduce it since returning to the States. Last month, Bon Appetit posted a recipe for beef noodle soup, and I decided it was a sign.



Despite the difficulty of not finding star anise of sichuan peppercorns (not really like peppercorns at all) at the supermarket, I prevailed and served it to friends last night. It met expectations. When buying noodles, we get the eggless #5 noodles from the red box in Chinese grocery stores. Spaghetti is not the same.

Big King Beef Noodle Soup
adapted from Bon Appetit

makes about 8 servings

• 3 pounds boneless beef short ribs
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 inch ginger, peeled and sliced thin
• 3 large cloves garlic, sliced thin
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp black bean garlic sauce (from asian food stores)
• 2 Tbsp spicy sichuan hot pot seasoning (or other spicy item)
  
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 6 whole or broken star anise
• 1 1/2 tsp Sichian peppercorns
  
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1 pound Chinese wheat noodles
• 2 baby bok choy. sliced lengthwise
  
• fresh chopped cilantro
• chopped green onions
  

1. Bring large pot of water to boil. Add beef and boil until brown, about 5 minutes. Remove beef and cut into 1 inch cubes. Drain and wipe out pot.
   
2. Heat oil in pan over medium-high. Add garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute. Add onions and cook until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add 10 cups water, beef, soy sauce, flavorings, spices, salt, and sugar and simmer uncovered for 1 hour. Make sure the soup doesn't boil so the beef doesn't get tough.
3. Add tomatoes to pot. Simmer for 50 minutes. Add bok choy and cook another 10 minutes
   
4. Cook noodles and drain
5. Divide noodles into bowls and top with broth and soup goodies. Garnish with cilantro and green onions.
   

Next time you're in China, get yourself some.