Local flavor

Hanoi village with age-old tradition of moon cake making

Each year upon the arrival of the Mid-Autumn Festival, a craft village in Xuan Tao ward of Bac Tu Liem district in Hanoi is busy preparing moon cakes in order to meet consumer demand in the capital and neighbouring localities.

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26 August, 2022

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hanoi village with age-old tradition of moon cake making picture 2 — Nguyen Thua Dinh, a local villager, says his family has made moon cakes for roughly 50 years, and the craft has been passed down three generations.

hanoi village with age-old tradition of moon cake making picture 3 — Dinh’s bakery has around 20 employees with the cake making process put under the microscope to ensure the quality of the products.

hanoi village with age-old tradition of moon cake making picture 4 — All of the ingredients needed to make moon cakes in his bakery are processed by hand.

hanoi village with age-old tradition of moon cake making picture 5 — A traditional moon cake is filled with sliced lemon leaves, kumquat, salted egg yolk, sausage, roast chicken, melon seeds, and almonds. All of the ingredients must be carefully selected and then mixed and cooked harmoniously together.

hanoi village with age-old tradition of moon cake making picture 6 — The making of moon cakes involves many steps, including processing the ingredients, making the crust, and mixing the stuffing.

hanoi village with age-old tradition of moon cake making picture 7 — In modern society, a large number of consumers prefer traditional flavoured moon cakes made out of natural ingredients.

hanoi village with age-old tradition of moon cake making picture 8 — Salted egg yolk is among those ingredients that are the favourites with consumers.

hanoi village with age-old tradition of moon cake making picture 9 — After the filling is added, each flattened circle is pressed in the mold in order to form the moon cake shape.

hanoi village with age-old tradition of moon cake making picture 10 — Before putting them in the oven, the cakes are then covered with a thin layer of fresh egg yolk in order to create a unique aroma and its natural yellow colour.

hanoi village with age-old tradition of moon cake making picture 11 — The ingredients are then weighed before bakers press the filling into the middle of each circle and roll it into a ball.

hanoi village with age-old tradition of moon cake making picture 12 — How delicious the cake is largely depends on the selection and processing of ingredients, reveals a local villager.

hanoi village with age-old tradition of moon cake making picture 13 — There are two types of moon cake, including banh nuong, known as brown baked cake,

hanoi village with age-old tradition of moon cake making picture 14 — and banh deo, also known as snow skin sticky cake.

hanoi village with age-old tradition of moon cake making picture 15 — Moon cakes are an indispensable part of Vietnamese people’s celebrations of the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is held annually on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month.

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