Chef Ryu Osaki pulls trays of golden-yellow mooncakes from the piping hot pastry oven. The delicate, buttery cookie casing filled with dense, tiger-orange custard cream bears a final hallmark of its origins: a phoenix emblem pressed into its top.
“While the ingredients are Japanese, the recipes are based on traditional Cantonese flavors,” says Osaki, executive Chinese chef at The Peninsula Hotel’s Hei Fung Terrace, of his delicate creations central to any celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival. “We take special care to deliver authentic flavors rather than localizing it to Japanese tastes.”
The Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, is one of the most significant celebrations in Chinese culture. It’s a public holiday in China, and many countries across Asia — including Japan — celebrate the full moon that waxes on the day. With this year’s festival set to fall on Sept. 10, family and friends will soon pray for good fortune, give thanks for a bountiful harvest and, of course, treat one another to mooncakes.