Celebrating Chinese Mid-Autumn Harvest Festival with Osmanthus...

Today is Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Cake, Autumn Moon or Lantern Festival, and is one of the most important festivals of the year for the Chinese people including the Vietnamese, and dates back over 3500 years. Held on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese calendar, the festival is held to celebrate the harvest as well as to worship the moon. Moon cakes are eaten and exchanged as gifts because they symbolise the roundness of the moon. Families reunite to attend big lantern parades and exhibitions; they join to light their lanterns and enjoy the sight of the full moon together. Moon cakes have a distinctive chrysanthemum pattern, embossed Chinese characters and are filled with a myriad of variations from red adzuki bean, date, chestnut or lotus paste. The prized ones include a salted duck egg yolk and sometimes two.

Photo Credit: www.chinahighlights.com

Other top traditional foods that are popularly eaten but less widely known to celebrate this festival under the bright moonlight are crab, river snails, duck, pumpkin, taro, lotus root, watermelon, pears and osmanthus. Each one symbolises auspicious elements of good luck, health or fertility.

Perusing the Chinese grocery store, I finally decided what to cook tonight to celebrate with my family; I landed on duck wings and dried flowers of osmanthus to make jelly with goji berries. To speak of the latter, this is my first time using osmanthus, which is a type of edible yellow or orange flowers. Osmanthus flowers are in full bloom during this time in Asia. Enjoying the sweet-scented osmanthus foods stands for family reunion and a happy life. Let me tell you how extremely fragrant it is- a dominantly sweet honey floral aroma! I read that osmanthus is not only great for dessert but also has medicinal use, such as suppressing coughs and phlegm, soothes dryness, and diminish toothaches. As well, superfood goji berries are packed with health goodness and they add a nice tartness to balance out the sweetness and colour to these jellies.   I love eating these light and soothing pretty jellies and today I get to make my own with the aid of my little helpers.

Osmanthus Jelly with Goji Berries 

Prepared agar agar according to package instructions to make about 3 cup liquid.
Cook's NOTE: Follow the sugar level as per package or the jelly won't set properly.
1 Tbsp. dried osmanthus flowers
1 Tbsp. goji berries 

So very pretty!

After cooking the agar agar to dissolve and following its cooking instructions with the sugar, add osmanthus and goji berries and simmer on low heat for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Pour into a pan, cups or moulds.

Let jelly cool to room temperature before placing into the fridge. Chill for at least two hours before cutting into shapes and serving.  

I poured the jelly mixture into small round moulds and an 8" X 8" pan.

Cute heart and oval-shaped jellies!!

Pears (Asian) to symbolize "reunion" and of course the lovely moon cake with white lotus paste and a salted duck egg.

Onto duck wings... I knew duck was a popular food to eat during mid-Autumn festival (the Chinese eat duck because the taste of the duck is very rich during this season), but when I saw duck wings and also picked up osmanthus, I was inspired to use it together in a braise- hey hitting on two auspicious foods in one dish! Then I read that osmanthus flowers is used in duck dishes (salted and baked duck) and is a must-eat food for people in East China’s Jiangsu Province and it's the most famous dish of Nanjing with a history of over 2500 years. Cool! Dried osmanthus doesn't need long to cook so I added it during the last five minutes of cooking.

Braised Soy Duck Wings with Osmanthus

Makes 20 wings

20 duck wings, whole or cut on joints into pieces (cutting into pieces makes it easier for the kids)
2 slices ginger

dash of ground white pepper

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 Tbsp. mirin

1 slice ginger, minced

1 garlic clove, minced

Seasoning:

1-1/2 cup soy sauce

1-1/2 cup water

1 Tbsp. dark soy sauce

2 Tbsp. mirin or 2 Tbsp. cooking wine with 2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. five spice powder

2 garlic cloves, halved

1 green onion, cut into pieces

1 tsp. dried osmanthus flowers

Bring water with ginger slices to a boil in a large pot or skillet; add duck wings. Bring it to a boil for three minutes. Drain water and rinse duck wings in cold water. To deepen flavour, marinate wings with white pepper, soy sauce, mirin, garlic and ginger. Toss well and set aside for one hour. 

Add all the sauce in the same pot/skillet, return chicken wings and bring sauce to a boil. Turn down the heat to medium-low. Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes. Add osmanthus flowers during the last five minutes of cooking. Turn off heat and leave covered for another 30 minutes.

YUM-O!! Lip-smacking savoury, slightly sticky and aromatic! The hint of fragrant flowers gives it a tasty touch!

Where ever you are celebrating this great moon festival, enjoy your time with family and friends!