Moon Cakes Home Style 家常月餅

Ingredients: (serves 4-6)

Pastry A:

• 285g flour

• 170g lard or shortening, softened

• About 150ml water

• 10ml / 2 tsps sugar

• Pinch of salt

Pastry B:

• 170g flour

• 170g lard or shortening, softened

Filling:

• 450g sweet red bean paste

Recipe Provider

Mr Deh-ta Hsiung

Method:

• Sift the flour for pastry A into a mixing bowl and add the lard and water. Slowly work in, and add the sugar and salt. Knead until smooth.

• Sift the flour for pastry B into another bowl. Add the lard. Work in and knead until smooth. On a lightly dusted surface, roll the two doughs into two ‘sausages’, then divide each into 24 portions.

• Roll each portion into a round ball and flatten with a rolling pin, making the pastry A circles larger than those of B. Place pastry B circles on top of the A circles. Fold four edges of the A over the B pastry to form a square, and gently roll out into a rectangular shape. Fold the two ends into the centre to form a square again, then lightly roll out into a circular shape, fairly thinly.

• When all the pastry cases are made, divide the red bean paste into 24 portions and roll each into a small ball, then flatten slightly. Place one in the centre of each circle of pastry and pull the edges together to enclose the paste. Brush with a little water or beaten egg if the edges do not stick well.

• To cook, place the cakes on a greased and floured baking tray. Bake in a preheated 200°C/400°F/gas6 oven for about 20 mins. Remove and serve cold.

Story:

There is a folk tale about the overthrow of Mongol rule facilitated by messages smuggled in moon cakes.

Moon cakes were used as a medium by the Ming revolutionaries in their espionage effort to secretly distribute letters to overthrow the Mongolian rulers of China in the Yuan dynasty.  The idea is said to have been conceived by Zhu Yuanzhang (朱元璋) and his advisor Liu Bowen (劉伯溫), who circulated a rumor that a deadly plague was spreading, and the only way to prevent it was to eat special moon cakes.  This prompted the quick distribution of moon cakes, which were used to hide a secret message coordinating the Han Chinese revolt on the 15 ^th day of the eighth lunar month.

Another method of hiding the message was printed in the surface of mooncakes as a simple puzzle or mosaic.  To read the encrypted message, each of the four moon cakes packaged together must be cut into four parts each.  The 16 pieces of moon cake, must then be pieced together in such a fashion that the secret messages can be read. The pieces of moon cake are then eaten to destroy the message.

( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mooncake )

原料： （四至六人份）

油酥皮 A ：

• 麵粉 285 克

• 豬油或起酥油 170 克（軟化）

• 水大約 150 毫升

• 湯 10 毫升 / 2 茶匙

• 鹽 1 撮

油酥皮 B ：

• 麵粉 170 克

• 豬油或起酥油 170 克（軟化）

餡料：

• 甜紅豆沙 450 克

菜譜提供者

熊德達先生

做法：

• 油酥皮 A 的麵粉過篩，慢慢攙入豬油和水，再加糖和鹽。將麵團揉至光滑。

• 油酥皮 B 的麵粉過篩，慢慢攙入豬肉，將麵團揉至光滑。在案板上撒上少許麵粉，將兩種油酥皮分別揉成長條狀，然後每條切成 24 份。

• 將每份油酥皮搓成球狀，再用擀麵棍擀平成圓形。 A 的大小應比 B 大。把 1 塊 B 放在 1 塊 A 上面，然後將它們的四邊向內折，形成一個正方形，再把正方形輕輕擀成長方形。把長方形的兩端向中間折，再次形成一個正方形，然後輕輕擀成很薄的圓形餅皮。

• 餅皮全部擀好後，把紅豆沙分成 24 份。每份揉成球狀，稍稍壓平後，放在 1 塊餅皮上。將餅皮的邊緣拉起，包住餡料。如果邊緣不能牢固地粘在一起，就刷一點水或雞蛋液，使之粘合。

• 在烤盤上刷一層油並撒上一點麵粉，把月餅放上去。在預熱到 200 攝氏度 / 400 華氏度 / 煤氣 6 檔的烘爐裡烤大約 20 分鐘即可取出。放涼後享用。

故事：

古代月餅被作為祭品於中秋節所食；由於時間的推移，月餅已經異化成中秋節食品和禮品。中秋節吃月餅的習俗於唐朝出現。根據《洛中見聞》，唐僖宗曾在中秋節當日命令御膳房用紅綾將餅賞賜給新科進士。北宋之時，該種餅被稱為 “宮餅” ，在宮廷內流行，但也流傳到民間，當時俗稱 “小餅” 和 “月團” 。北宋文學家蘇東坡曾經提及：“小餅如嚼月，中有酥和飴” ，當中的 “小餅” 也即是月餅。而 “月餅” 一詞最早見於南宋吳自牧《夢梁錄》中，那時的月餅只是像菱花餅一樣的餅形食物，後來才演變成圓形，寓意團圓美好。
 
相傳元朝的時候，漢人在元人的統治下苦不堪言，朱元璋揭竿反元，但元軍控制嚴密，義軍無法傳遞消息，為此劉伯溫獻計，在中秋節互贈糕餅，並在裡面夾紙條，上面寫著 “八月十五殺韃子” ，作為起義的訊號。
 
明代田汝成《西湖遊覽記》提及：“八月十五謂之中秋，民間以月餅相饋，取團圓之意。” 可見月餅於當時流行於民間。清代已有詳細記述月餅製作方法的書籍。清楊光輔即寫道：“月餅飽裝桃肉餡，雪糕甜砌蔗糖霜。”
 
還有另外一個傳說：在清代你如果要反清的話，不宜太招搖。因此有人在台灣反清時，用一張紙包在類似今日的月餅裡，告訴對方准備反清復明。因此也有一說，中秋節的起源自台灣明朝時。

（ http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9C%88%E9%A5%BC ）