It is the season of the year again that Chinese community will celebrate Mid Autumn Festival on the coming 3 October 2009! This auspicious date is based on Lunar calendar and also a special date for me personally. Mid Autumn Festival or Moon Festival (traditional Chinese: 中秋節) is a popular harvest festival celebrated by Chinese and Vietnamese on the eighth lunar month of the fifteenth day. Technically speaking, this is the date when the autumn and the spring equinoxes of solar calendar happen to be parallel and as a result, the moon appears to be the fullest and roundest! Traditionally, the food served for Mid Autumn celebration is mooncakes. In Penang almost every corner, mooncakes are on sale whether at the malls, shops and even by the streets. Three Sundays ago, we were very lucky to visit Tho Yuen Restaurant for dim sum and co-incidentally caught the sight of how mooncakes are being made. We asked for permission to enter their kitchen and managed to steal a few shots of how to the conventional way of making mooncakes. Check out the video below on mooncake in the making (only some part though). The green filling is shredded coconut in 'pandan' or screwpine essence. Unfortunately I did manage to catch how each mooncake is shaped in a special mould. There is always next year, right?
Being at Tho Yuen Restaurant before Mid Autumn Festival is like killing two birds with one stone. You may eat dim sum there and bring home some mooncakes. If you read Chinese, the colorful paper on the restaurant's wall indicated the mooncake flavors with the cost of each. They range from RM6.70 to 11.70 depending on the filling such as coconut, mixed nuts, red bean paste, lotus paste. This filling may come plain or accompanied with egg yolk. During the season of Moon Cake Festival (roughly a month and a half before the auspicious date), Tho Yuen Restaurant would operate daily to cater for the demand of mooncakes. If you wish make an advance order, just call them at 04-261 4672 so that you can just drive through to pick up at the bustling Campbell Street instead of looking for a vacant car park. Getting there? Tho Yuen Restaurant/Bakery 92 Campbell Street, 10100 Penang, Malaysia. Tel: +6-4-261 4672 Business hours: Open daily from 6am to 3pm and closed on every Tuesday. Dim Sum/Yum Cha is served for breakfast, Hainan Chicken Rice is served for lunch Click here for Google Map to locate Tho Yuen Restaurant/Bakery. If you are looking to stay at this place you may try find your hotels in Penang
Penang Tho Yuen Bakery | Mooncake, Biscuit and Pastry
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