TAI THONG Group executive master chef Yiu Wing Keung has pushed the boundaries even further in his quest to offer new unusual flavours of mooncakes for this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival.
The chef, who has over 30 years of culinary experience both in Hongkong and Malaysia, has opted to use ingredients that not many chefs have even thought of before.
Filling his mooncakes with dollops of pineapple jam, shrimp sambal, wheatgrass extract and grapefruit, he has created what he calls his Four Seasons series that give mooncake connoisseurs not only the taste but also the look of each of the seasons – spring, summer, autumn and winter.
The new mooncake flavours are the wholesome wheatgrass with single yolk; golden honey grapefruit with pineapple; savoury white lotus with shrimp sambal; snowy white lotus and black sesame with custard (all at RM16 per piece); and snow skin chocolate yogurt with cranberry bits (RM15 per piece).
The wholesome wheatgrass with single yolk, in honour of spring, is a nutrient-rich baked mooncake. The combination of the refreshingly sweet wheatgrass extract paste with the salty yolk will appeal to those who want something healthy.
On why he picked wheatgrass, Yiu explains that while its flavour is similar to the familiar pandan, he prefers wheatgrass for its milder taste.
Golden honey grapefruit with pineapple, for summer’s bounty, is another departure in flavour for mooncakes. The mooncake is baked with a tropical blend of naturally-sweetened grapefruit and lotus paste, with pineapple jam in the centre in place of the egg yolk.
Both pineapple and grapefruit bring a tinge of sourness to the taste giving the mooncake a blend of sour along with fruity sweetness.
The savoury white lotus with shrimp sambal, as a balm against autumn’s chilly winds, is something of an acquired taste, but it is the most innovative among the five new flavours.
The baked mooncake comes with white lotus seed paste with dried shrimp sambal as its core. Yiu specifically uses the lightly sweetened white lotus paste so that it will not overpower the slight spiciness of the shrimp sambal core.
According to him, this mooncake (which is halal) caters to non-Chinese customers who have developed a craving for mooncake.
Those who love snow skin mooncakes might want to try out the snowy white lotus and black sesame with custard flavour as a comfort against the winter blues.
The skin is infused with ground almond, which makes it much more fragrant, while the filling is traditional white lotus and black sesame paste with a custard centre.
There is also a cold dessert that both the young and old will enjoy. The snow skin chocolate yogurt with cranberry bits is a cool pastry delight.
Not only does it look like ice cream, it also tastes like one as the chocolate and vanilla yogurt paste melts in your mouth while leaving trails of cranberry bits for you to chew.
“The original mooncake flavours (those that have fillings of lotus seed paste, with or without salty egg yolk) still remain a favourite but we make new and different flavours every year for those who are willing to try and experience a new generation of mooncakes,” said Yiu.
“Besides, the new flavours keep people interested in this traditional pastry cake.”
The new Four Seasons series mooncakes, which come in four different and colourful collectible boxes, are available at all participating Tai Thong restaurants, hypermarkets and mall kiosks.
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