The Hungry Ghost Month is finally over!
*phew*
As much as I try to avoid being overly superstitious, it's hard not to feel a bit fearful towards this dreaded month every year where we're warned to avoid making big decisions, signing contracts, moving to a new home and of course, getting married or doing anything wedding related. It's also this month when Chinese all over the world would take extra pre-caution against accidents and sickness. Finally, it's over and it's time to celebrate!
In a week's time, we will be having the
Mid-Autumn Festival and it's so interesting to see how one holiday is being celebrated so differently across the region. Here in the Lion City, it's customary for families to light up pretty lanterns and to eat as much mooncakes to their heart's delight. Meanwhile, in Manila, most of us love this time of the year as it's when we
play the Mooncake Dice Game (pwa tiong chiu). I'm so happy that my Fil-Chi friends who are also based here in Singapore and I will still continue the tradition by having our own
pwa tiong chiu sessions in the next two weeks. Likewise, we will also fill our tummies with mooncakes in all colors, types and fillings.
Speaking of which, check out
Crystal Jade Singapore's beautiful mooncake collection! We were so lucky to receive this pretty box filled with two Traditional Baked Mooncakes and four colorful delicate snowskin ones.
Take a close look at the
Traditional Baked Mooncakes. We got two flavours to try namely the
Low Sugar with White Lotus Paste with Single Yolk and the
Mixed Nuts and Ham. The first one was pretty much the most popular kind which is also what we used to have a lot of in Manila. I love how the lotus paste wasn't too sweet allowing you to enjoy a bigger slice than usual. It's
low sugar which I personally prefer over the
no sugar type which could mean the addition of sugar substitutes.
However, the biggest surprise came from the
Mixed Nuts and Ham. It consists of
jinhua ham which gives a nice salty kick complementing the sweet lotus paste. Normally, when I get to try mixed nuts mooncakes, I would end up so disappointed with the lack of nuts inside but this one got nuts overlapped with nuts in every bite. It has a nice salty, sweet and nutty flavor which will surely be a hit this Mooncake season.
Moving on to the
Snowskin Mooncakes, I really enjoyed trying every single piece in order to guess the flavor inside. To save you from all the guess work, let me guide you through each color. The
yellow mooncake has
white lotus with macadamia nut inside, the
pink/purple mooncake is filled with
lychee with pine nuts, the
orange mooncake got
blueberry with cashew nuts and lastly, the
green mooncake is the most interesting with
chlorella and melon seeds.
My personal favorite was definitely the
White Lotus with Macadamia as I love anything with macadamia nut and let's face it, it's the safest and most common flavor among the four. However, if I were to be a bit bold, then I'd go with the
Lychee with Pine Nuts where the lychee has a nice sweet taste and the pine nuts brings an interesting texture in every bite. The
Blueberry with Cashew was also quite good as I enjoyed biting into the tiny bits of blueberries inside. The only thing that I wasn't so crazy about was the
Chlorella with Melon Seeds partially because my mind is telling me that the name sounds very foreign. It has a very strong pandan-like flavor which is actually very Singaporean in my opinion. I tried this with some Oolong Tea and I actually liked it that way.
I got to say that I enjoyed all the
Snowskin Mooncakes the most and I heard that stocks are quickly running out so better head over to the nearest
Crystal Jade outlet near you to get your box. Hurry!
Crystal Jade Singapore's Mooncake Collection is available in all outlets all over Singapore. Visit their website to know the nearest outlet to your location.
