Chocolate moon cakes?

[vliang]

I need to buy moon cakes for Mid-Autumn Moon Festival for someone that is bean paste adverse. I was thinking chocolate. I've seen such "modern" flavours sold in Asia. Does anyone know of anyplace in SF or the Peninsula that mgiht have this? Thanks!

[siulan_99]

I've never heard of chocolate moon cakes; it seems so Un-moon cake. I go to Eastern Bakery, 720 Grant, SF. They carry the mooncake year round. I get their nut moon cake-"um yin", just nuts and sometimes they have bacon, but I didn't taste any bacon this time. Some Chinese Super Market, they carry "freezer" mooncake which tastes like mochi. I saw them at Pacific Super at St. Francis Plaza on Eastmoor (Daly City). 2 for $6.99. They are limited because they come from Hong Kong. I tasted the sesame flavor (yummy); you got to wait for it to defrost.

[vliang]

I saw chocolate moon cakes in Taipei last year when I was there. I ended up buying a multi-flavour box from Sheng Kee Bakery that had - pineapple, grapefruit, green tea, oolong, lotus, and red bean (we skipped the lotus and bean ones). I also bought a box of traditional Taiwanese style moon cakes (mochi flavour) for my office. The Sheng Kee fruit ones tasted kinda like a newton. The tea flavour ones still had that graininess and undesirable (to me) mouth feel of the bean/lotus/other traditional flavours.
To be honest, even though I am a stickler for "authenticity" in my Chinese food, I am not a fan of any Chinese dessert and any "non-traditional" elements (chocolate and the like) is an improvement in my book. I especially can't stand the oily, big squarish shaped mooncakes that seems to fill Chinatown shops. My original post was me trying to figure out how to carry on the tradition of mooncakes for Mid-Autumn without having to actually eat/serve one of those suckers. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. Maybe next year I'll just bake my own pastry and call it a mooncake.

[yimster]

That is a wonderful idea. Your filling within the shell of a mooncake. No need to wait, start you own festival new world moon cakes for Chinese Christmas. Maybe if I get going I can make some too :>) not since I do not bake.

But a great idea anyway.

[Eleanor Hoh]

Wiiliam Wong wrote about Golden Gate Bakery selling moon cakes, probably too late: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/w...

[yimster]

It maybe too late. Tomorrow is 8/15 by the Chinese calendar. That is moon festive day. So after tomorrow the local bakeries will stop making moon cakes. So after Saturday the local market will discount there stock of overseas moon cakes. Once a year is more then enough.

Now only family dinners to attend and enjoy.

[kc72]

I was at Costco(Richmond) over the weekend where they were giving out samples of moon cakes. Don't know what flavors they had but I think the sign said Joy Luck Place or Palace.

[K K]

Lately at Marina Foods supermarket and CrC in Millbrae (the latter being a mixed grocery/snack/lotto/travel agent family run shop), have some interesting imported mooncakes from Hong Kong that for some reason required refrigeration. They didn't look like the paste variety, and on a cashier poster apparently you can get (or pre-order) lots of wacky flavors like green tea, fruity flavors, and something REALLY HK...Yeung Chi Gum Loe 楊枝甘露 http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/%E6%A5%... which is a mango based dessert with pomelo skin, sago, evaporated milk, and coconut juice.

But yes, check your local dim sum seafood restaurant too for other varieties. I suspect the big name Chinatown bakeries should have some of the more traditional flavors as well that might not have all bean paste related interiors.

[yimster]

There are moon cakes that are made without bean paste. Winter melon and what I call Chinese fruit cake (nuts and fruit). Eastern Bakery has been my source in the past for these two items.

[vulber]

I saw Koi Palace advertising them a few weeks ago.