When I was a kid growing up in a village in Ipoh, the 15th day of the 8th month in the Chinese lunar calendar was always an exciting day. That’s when everyone in the village celebrated the “Mooncakes Festival” and “pai yuet kong” (“praying to the moon” in Cantonese) was the finale of the night. But of course, the prayers thing was something done by the adults and we kids were just interested in the lantern activities for the day. Yes, those traditional lanterns in all shapes and sizes of animals (mainly) or boats or aeroplanes (but my favourite was the starfruit-shaped one!) made from multi-coloured cellophane sheets glued to bamboo sticks. Puny (because they broke all the time) real candles were lit inside those lanterns (none of the battery-operated ones during those days) and then everyone would move in a line for the “lantern parade” through the dusty narrow roads in the village. There would always be some wailing when someone’s lantern caught fire and after that exhilarating parade, we’d head back to wolf down the mooncakes and other goodies on the moon-prayers table.
Mooncakes – the must-have item for the Mid-Autumn Celebration (aka Mooncakes Festival). These days, most people buy these as gifts for relatives & friends, more than for personal consumption really. Every year, restaurants and bakeries try to outdo each other by coming up with new and unique flavours and fillings. Personally, I tend to stick to the traditional ones with lotus paste, red bean paste or mixed nuts.
The pastry chefs at Toh Yuen, Hilton Petaling Jaya seem to share my preference and that’s why the range of traditional baked mooncakes this year comprises mainly those with white lotus paste, red bean paste and pandan paste with or without salted egg yolks. My favourite “Mixed Five Nuts” is also in the line-up.
The Snow Skin range offers lotus paste with sunflower seeds, yam paste, green tea paste with red bean, black sesame paste and their “special” this year is the Chocolate Pistachio Indulgence.
Snow Skin Black Sesame Paste
Snow Skin Green Tea
Snow Skin Yam Paste
Snow Skin Lotus Paste
The Traditional Baked Mooncakes are priced at RM23-RM25 each while the Snow Skin ones are at RM18 each except for the Chocolate Pistachio Indulgence which is at RM22 per piece.
Lotus Paste with Single Egg Yolk
Green Tea with Pistachios
White Lotus Paste
Red Bean Paste with Almond Flakes
Pandan Paste with Single Yolk
My favourite Mixed Five Nuts!
The mooncakes are on sale in the restaurant until 15 September 2016 – the actual date for this year’s Mid Autumn Festival. If you are thinking of buying in bulk, then you can get the following discounts:
- 10% discount for 50 boxes & above
- 15% discount for 100 boxes & above
Toh Yuen Restaurant is also offering 2 special Mid Autumn Reunion Sets at RM1,188 net per table for 10 pax. After all, a festival is always a time of celebration and in our Malaysian context, that calls for a good feast with loved ones.
We sampled some dishes from the special meal sets, so you can expect dishes like these to grace your festive table at Toh Yuen…
Special Four Season Deluxe Barbeque Combination
Double-boiled Fresh Ginseng with Black Chicken & Glutinous Rice
Teochew-style Steamed Garoupa Fillets with Hong Kong beancurd skin
Pan-fried Chicken topped with Salted Egg & Barbeque Sauce
Stuffed Sea Cucumber with Shrimp Paste & Mushrooms
Lotus Roots & Fresh Lily Bulbs with Prawns
Braised Misua with Shredded Chicken & Mushrooms
Chilled Almond with White Fungus & Lotus Seeds
For reservations, please call +603-7955-9122 ext.4073/74 or visit www.ZestPJ.com
TOH YUEN CHINESE RESTAURANT
Hilton Petaling Jaya
Jalan Barat
Petaling Jaya
Tel: +603-7955-9122