Bad Moon Rising

Here in China the Moon Festival celebrates the end of the fall harvest. This year it falls on September 12. We've been gifted a few boxes of the traditional mooncakes and have actually been brave enough to to try them. Traditionally the cakes are filled with a lotus seed paste with a salted egg yolk at the center to symbolize the moon. Doesn't that sound delish? In reality there are tons of different fillings, so it's usually a mystery when you take the first bite. I've had a sweet one with a yolk at the center that was tolerable. A co-worker told Brian this particular box should be a savory filling with whiskey so we opened it up for dessert last night and nervously took the first bite.

BIG mistake. It reeked of fish sauce gone bad. Brian compared it to cat food. Obviously, it went straight to the trash and we gargled with turpentine. Perhaps the instructions on the desiccant packet were also meant to apply to the cakes? We still have two family size mooncakes waiting to be opened, and I just don't know if we're brave enough.

Next year, I'm so putting in a request for these full mooncakes from Goods of Desire in Hong Kong!