In many places, moon cakes are also called small cakes, reunion cakes, moon groups, palace cakes, Hu cakes, etc. They are mainly used to worship the moon god on the Mid Autumn Festival. Later, slowly spread to the present, there is the custom of eating moon cakes on the Mid Autumn Festival. Let's see why we eat moon cakes on the Mid Autumn Festival. Welcome to check it!
Why eat moon cakes in the Mid Autumn Festival
The habit of eating moon cakes on the Mid Autumn Festival has a long history in China. There are different views on the origin of eating moon cakes on the Mid Autumn Festival. The common saying is: in the Tang Dynasty, in order to conquer the northern Turks, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin ordered his senior general Li Jing to personally lead the troops to fight in the frontier fortress. As a result, he made many miracles. On August 15, he returned to Beijing in triumph. In order to celebrate the victory, artillery and music were fired inside and outside Chang'an City in Kyoto, and the army and people reveled all night. At that time, a Tubo man who went to Chang'an for trade specially offered round cakes to the emperor to wish victory. Taizong Li Shimin was overjoyed. He took over the richly decorated cake box, took out the colored round cakes, pointed to the bright moon hanging in the sky and said, "you should invite the Hu cake to the toad (i.e. the moon)." Subsequently, the round cake was distributed to all civil and military officials. Since then, the custom of eating moon cakes on the Mid Autumn Festival has been handed down.
Precautions for eating moon cakes in the Mid Autumn Festival
1. There are many flavors of moon cakes, including sweet and salty ones. So when a variety of flavors of moon cakes are in front of you, how should you choose? I suggest that we should taste moon cakes in the order of salty before sweet. If you eat sweet mooncakes first and then eat them later, you won't feel that salty mooncakes have a unique taste. If you eat salty mooncakes first and then sweet mooncakes later, you will feel more sweet and delicious, because salty taste can generally set off the sweetness.
2. Although the moon cake is delicious, it's best not to eat it as a meal. It's a good choice to take the moon cake as tea after dinner. Don't eat too much moon cakes at a time, which is easy to produce a sense of greasy satiety. It's best to taste moon cakes with tea, which can relieve greasiness. While eating moon cakes, while drinking light tea or flower tea, the taste is great.
3. Although moon cakes are a must eat delicacy during the Mid Autumn Festival, not everyone can eat them! Moon cakes are high calorie food, but not for diabetics, three high people and obese people. Moon cakes are not easy to digest. Patients with gastrointestinal diseases had better not eat more. Infants and the elderly should also be extra careful when eating moon cakes to prevent choking.
How to eat moon cakes healthily in the Mid Autumn Festival
1. You should chew carefully and swallow slowly. Don't eat ice cream moon cakes if your stomach is bad
Moon cakes are difficult to digest food. When eating, you should chew carefully and swallow slowly. Don't eat too fast. Chewing carefully and swallowing slowly can not only taste its delicacy, but also help gastrointestinal digestion and absorption. Ice cream moon cakes are made entirely of ice cream. People with bad intestines and stomach had better not try. Seafood mooncakes are relatively expensive mooncakes, including abalone, shark fin and laver. They taste slightly salty and fresh, and are famous for their sweet aroma. But people with hyperlipidemia and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases should eat less. No matter what the smell is, people with diabetes are best advised to avoid touching it. If the condition is not very serious, you can eat a little appropriately, but you must reduce the food intake of the day.
2. Eat early, not late
Eating moon cakes in the morning can supplement the energy needed in the morning and is not easy to get fat. The elderly with cardiovascular disease should pay more attention to the eating time, otherwise it may increase the risk of thrombosis. It's best to eat moon cakes in the morning and noon. It's not suitable to eat them before going to bed at night, especially for those patients with stomach disease and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. Eating moon cakes at night is not conducive to digestion and absorption, which is easy to cause digestive system and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, thus affecting their health.
3. It's better to eat new than old
Because the moon cake contains more oil and has a long storage time, it not only loses its original flavor, but also is prone to deterioration due to oil oxidation, which will produce an unpleasant "Hara" flavor. Therefore, it is best to buy and eat moon cakes now.
4. It is advisable to drink tea while eating
When eating moon cakes, you can drink tea or warm boiled water to quench thirst, relieve greasy and help digestion; Second, it is refreshing and adds flavor and interest.
Eat moon cakes with some protein rich foods, such as milk and soybean milk. It can also be matched with some acidic foods such as hawthorn, which can appetize and enhance digestion. But it is not suitable for people with stomach disease, otherwise it will aggravate the condition. Drinking tea while eating moon cakes can relieve greasiness and help digestion.
Generally speaking, it's best to eat sweet moon cakes and drink flower tea, which is sweet and delicious; It's better to eat salty moon cakes and drink oolong tea or green tea, which has a refreshing fragrance. You can also eat some fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin C and dietary fiber with moon cakes. Because the fat and sugar content of moon cakes are very high, it is not suitable to drink soft drinks, cola or fruit juice with high sugar content. Some people think that drinking wine when eating moon cakes can reduce blood lipids and soften blood vessels. In fact, grapes, raisins and other fruits can be directly converted into glucose and should be eaten carefully.
5. Moon cakes should not be stored in refrigerator
Moon cakes should not be stored in the refrigerator. Under the condition of low temperature, starch will become aging, making moon cakes hard and taste worse. It is best to store moon cakes in a cool and dry place indoors. Pay attention not to store them for too long. Moon cakes in bulk can be stored for three or five days; Moon cakes with independent small packaging or anti-corrosion material package in the packaging can be stored for more than ten days.
6. Eating separately is the best
Moon cakes should not be eaten too much at a time. They should be determined according to your physical condition. Moon cakes should not be eaten between meals. If you want to eat moon cakes after meals, you should eat less staple food and meat in the dinner in order to balance the nutrition of the day. Moon cakes should be eaten separately. Cut them into small pieces and share them with relatives and friends, which can not only taste more different flavors, but also feel the fun and atmosphere of gathering with family and friends, but also avoid excessive intake of fat and sugar.
7. Children under the age of three had better not eat moon cakes
Moon cakes are "three high" foods, high in sugar, fat and calories. Overeating is not good for children's health.
Therefore, it's best not to eat for children under the age of three. For children over the age of three, their intestines and stomach are a little mature. They can eat a little appropriately, but don't overdose it.
When a baby over three years old eats moon cakes, he can only eat up to 1 / 4 of the regular size of moon cakes at a time, because eating too many moon cakes will aggravate the gastrointestinal burden and cause gastrointestinal discomfort, bloating and stuffy, resulting in indigestion, abdominal pain, diarrhea and other symptoms. At the same time, the intake of staple food and oil should be reduced to balance the baby's diet in a day, because a cantonese moon cake weighing about 4 liang contains 500 kcal of calories, equivalent to 3 liang of rice.
Why eat moon cakes on the Mid Autumn Festival 2
The origin of moon cakes is well known. Wheat originated in West Asia. More than 10000 years ago, ancient tribes there first planted wheat and explored various eating methods. Thirty or four thousand years ago, wheat was introduced into the Central Plains through West Asia and Central Asia. At the earliest time, people cooked wheat grains directly. Only in the Warring States period did a very small number of people use stone mills to grind them into fragments and then cook them. The word "cake" appeared for the first time in Mozi in the Warring States period, saying that a rich man had many cattle and sheep but still liked to steal other people's "cake". The "cake" in Mozi may only be involved by way of example. This kind of "cake" was very rare in the Central Plains at that time. There were frequent exchanges between the Tang Dynasty and the western regions, and there was a "Hu Feng" in the Central Plains, as well as in terms of diet. Various "Hu cakes" were very popular. Huilin's "everything classics" mentioned that Hu food at that time included Gu Gu (a half moon or round fried box), Shaobing (which should refer to pie), Hu cake (bag), etc. When Hu people made this kind of fried pie, they would add garlic to the filling to taste spicy. After the development and improvement of the Tang people, there were also innovative practices such as smallpox with trichosanthes root, crab roe with crab roe, cherry with broken cherry and so on. Later, they evolved into various fried boxes. The Mid Autumn Festival was a custom in the Tang Dynasty. At that time, people mainly worshipped the moon, enjoyed the moon and drank alcohol. There was no fixed seasonal food.
People in the Song Dynasty paid attention to going upstairs to enjoy the moon during the Mid Autumn Festival. They usually put wine and food at home, eat seasonal fruits or visit the market. It can be said that from the "cake" of the Han Dynasty to the "Hu cake" of the Tang Dynasty, it is mainly the practice passed down from the western regions, while the "moon cake" of the Southern Song Dynasty is already a snack of the practice with Chinese characteristics. In the Yuan Dynasty, the people of the Central Plains revolted against the Yuan Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to unite the resistance, but he was unable to deliver the news. Liu Bowen came up with a plan and ordered people to hide the note with "August 15 night uprising" in the cake and send it separately to the local uprising troops, and finally overthrow the Yuan Dynasty. In order to celebrate this victory, the people retained the custom of giving moon cakes on the Mid Autumn Festival.
In the Ming Dynasty, the full moon shaped moon cakes became the necessary food for the Mid Autumn Festival and had the meaning of family reunion. At that time, the custom was to hang the portrait of the Moon Palace in the courtyard facing the rising of the moon, and place moon cakes and fruits on the offering table as respectful offerings. After the moon rises to a high place, people will burn incense, worship the moon and burn paper, then remove the offerings, and the whole family will sit around and eat moon cakes and fruits.
Family reunion, eating moon cakes, enjoying the moon, drinking and poetry; Or detained in a foreign land, unable to sleep on the moon, feeling the world, looking at the moon and hurting the autumn. Therefore, the ancient literati and youths left the most poems about appreciating the moon in the Mid Autumn Festival. I have selected the most moving and widely spread eight Mid Autumn Festival poems from the poems of previous dynasties. I wish you a happy mid autumn festival.
Water melody
Su Shi
When is the moon? Ask Qingtian about the wine.
I don't know what season it would be in the heavens on this night.
I'd like to ride the wind to fly home. Yet I fear the crystal and jade mansions are much too high and cold for me,
It's very cold on the high ground. It's like dancing and making clear shadows. How can it be in the world?
The moon rounds the red mansion Stoops to silk-pad doors, Shines upon the sleepless Bearing no grudge.
Why does the moon tend to be full when people are apart?
People may have sorrow or joy, be near or far apart, the moon may be dim or bright, wax or wane, This has been going on since the beginning of time.
I hope people will last a long time.
Drinking alone under the moon
Li Bai
There is a pot of wine among the flowers, drinking alone without a blind date.
Raise a glass to invite the moon, and the shadow becomes three.
Since the moon doesn't understand drinking, the shadow follows me.
The moon will shadow for the time being, and pleasure must reach spring.
My song moon lingers, my dance shadow is messy.
Make love with each other when you wake up, and disperse when you get drunk.
Forever knot ruthless travel, phase Miao Yunhan.
"With huangfulang at the dawn of Mid Autumn Festival, he ascended the Tiangong Pavilion and said six rhymes"
Bai Juyi
The blue sky is suddenly high, and the day is not short.
Exquisite Xiao Pavilion, crisp autumn silk tube.
Zhang Han is drunk while Ji Kang is lazy all day.
The feet are tired in the dust, and there are many evacuations outside the clouds.
The ill wood and axe are left behind, and the dead Hongji is broken.
Xiaoyao's two or three sons are always willing to be idle companions.
Tai Chang Yin
Xin Qiji
A round of autumn shadow turns into golden wave, and the flying mirror is grinded again.
Ask her about the wine. How can I be deceived by white hair!
It's easy to go by the wind. It's thousands of miles in the sky and looks down at the mountains and rivers.
The laurel whirls in the wind. Humanity is, more light.
"Mid autumn chant"
Shao Yong
The Mid Autumn Festival is good, and the moon is reunited.
It's hard for most people to be alone.
When the weather is fine, the guests are still good, and the wine is more beautiful and safe.
If one of the four is absent, it cannot be such a joy.
"Playing the moon in Taoyuan on the 15th night of August"
Liu Yuxi
When I see the moon in the dust, my heart is also idle, especially in the fairy house in the autumn.
The condensation light is long and the cold dew falls. At this time, it stands at the highest mountain.
There are no clouds in the blue sky, and the wind cannot rise. There are long pines on the mountain and water in the mountain.
The group moves leisurely, and the sky is thousands of miles high.
Young gentleman, lead me up to the jade altar and invite the real immortal official.
The clouds are ready to move under the stars, and the sky is happy, and the muscles and bones are cold.
Jin Xiaxin gradually goes East, and the shadow of the wheel promotes you to look at it frequently.
It's hard to be together again when the scenery is good. You should be melancholy on this day in another year.
"Ask the moon with wine"
Li Bai
When does the moon come in the blue sky? I'll stop drinking and ask.
People can't get the bright moon, but the moon goes with people.
As bright as a flying mirror, it faces the danque, and the green smoke is extinguished.
But seeing the night coming from the sea, would you rather know to the clouds?
The white rabbit makes medicine, autumn returns to spring, and Chang'e lives alone. Who is next to her?
Today people do not see the ancient moon. This moon once shone on the ancients.
The ancients and modern people are like running water, looking at the bright moon.
I wish that when the song is right for wine, the moonlight shines in the golden bottle.
"The singing of flowers and moon in effect" eleven pieces of Lianzhu body
Tang Yin
With flowers and no moon, I hate the boundless,
The moon grows without flowers;
The beauty of flowers is like a mirror facing the moon,
The moon shines like water and the flowers smell.
Looking for flowers under the moon,
Bring wine to the moon before flowers;
So good, spend so many months,
Don't make flowers and moons ordinary.
Why eat moon cakes on the Mid Autumn Festival 3
"The moon is round on August 15, and the mid autumn moon cakes are fragrant and sweet". This famous proverb tells the custom of Chinese people eating moon cakes on the night of the Mid Autumn Festival. Nowadays, the custom of playing under the moon is far less popular than in the past. However, it is still very popular to hold banquets to enjoy the moon. People ask the moon for wine to celebrate a better life, or wish their relatives far away health and happiness and "thousands of miles of common charm" with their families. So why eat moon cakes on the Mid Autumn Festival?
Moon cakes, also known as Hu cakes, palace cakes, small cakes, moon groups, reunion cakes, etc., are offerings to worship the moon god in the ancient Mid Autumn Festival. According to the letter, the custom of eating moon cakes in the Mid Autumn Festival has been formed.
Moon cakes have a long history in China. According to historical records, as early as the Yin and Zhou dynasties, there was a kind of thin and kind-hearted "Taishi cake" in memory of Taishi Wen Zhong in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, which was the "ancestor" of moon cakes in China. When Zhang Qian was an envoy to the western regions in the Han Dynasty, he introduced sesame and walnut seeds to add auxiliary materials to the production of moon cakes. At this time, a round cake filled with walnut kernel appeared, which is called "Hu cake".
In the Tang Dynasty, there were bakers engaged in production among the people, and cake shops began to appear in Chang'an, the capital. It is said that one year on the night of the Mid Autumn Festival, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty and imperial concubine Yang looked at the bright moon, and their hearts were surging. They said "moon cake" at random. Since then, the name of "moon cake" has gradually spread among the people.
The Royal Mid Autumn Festival in the Northern Song Dynasty likes to eat a kind of "palace cake", which is commonly known as "small cake" and "Moon Group". Su Dongpo has a poem: "small cakes are like chewing the moon, with crispness and joy in them." The literati of the Song Dynasty carefully mentioned the name of "moon cake" for the first time in the old stories of Wulin, which describes the experience of Lin'an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, eating moon cakes in the mid autumn festival gradually spread among the people. At that time, the ingenious Baker and the fairy tale of anti Chang'e running to the moon were printed on the moon cakes as an instrument art pattern, making the moon cakes a necessary food for the Mid Autumn Festival, which was more favored by the people.
It is said that eating moon cakes on the mid autumn festival began in the Yuan Dynasty. At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang led the Han people to resist the tyranny of the Yuan Dynasty. He agreed to revolt on August 15 and put a note in the moon cakes to convey the message by giving each other moon cakes. The custom of eating moon cakes on the Mid Autumn Festival has spread among the people. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang finally overthrew the Yuan Dynasty and became the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Although people of the Qing Dynasty came to China later, people still celebrate this festival, which symbolizes the overthrow of alien rule.
It is said that in ancient China, emperors had the ritual system of offering sacrifices to the sun in spring and the moon in autumn. In the folk, there is also the custom of worshipping the moon or sacrificing the moon around every August Mid Autumn Festival. "The moon is round on August 15, and the mid autumn moon cakes are fragrant and sweet". This famous proverb tells the custom of Chinese people eating moon cakes on the night of the Mid Autumn Festival. Moon cakes were originally used to offer sacrifices to the moon god. Later, people gradually took the Mid Autumn Festival to enjoy the moon and taste moon cakes as a symbol of family reunion. Slowly, moon cakes became festival gifts.
Moon cakes originated from Zhu Jie food of the army of the Tang Dynasty. During the reign of emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty, General Li Jing conquered the Huns and returned triumphantly on August 15.
At that time, some Turpan businessmen offered cakes to the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Gaozu Li Yuan took over the gorgeous cake box, took out the round cake, smiled at the bright moon in the air and said, "you should invite the Hu cake to the toad.". Then he divided the cake among the ministers.
The book Mengliang Lu by Wu Zimu of the Southern Song Dynasty has the word "moon cake", but the description of tasting the moon and eating moon cakes in the Mid Autumn Festival is only recorded in the West Lake Tour chronicle meeting of the Ming Dynasty: "August 15 is the Mid Autumn Festival, and the folk leave the moon cakes together, taking the meaning of reunion". In the Qing Dynasty, there were more and more records about moon cakes, and the production was more and more exquisite.
With the development of moon cakes today, there are more varieties and different flavors from place to place. Among them, Beijing style, Soviet style, Cantonese style and Chao style moon cakes are widely eaten by people in North and South China.