El Monteans learn to make Snowy Moon Cakes

Part of a series of events celebrating 100 years of the relationship between the El Monte libraries and the County of Los Angeles’ library system, El Monteans had a chance on August 17 to learn to make a Chinese treat that has existed for thousand of years – Snowy Moon Cakes.

Snowy Moon Cakes are a treat traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls mid-September or October in our western calendar. They are small, just on the sweet side, with a filling that can taste like mango, sesame, and green bean.

The “skin” (the cake wrapping) is a combination of flours and starches that give it its elastic, chewy, between white and transparent consistency. A bit of sprinkled cooked flour is what eventually turns it into a “snowy” delight.

Making the Snowy Moon Cakes is not as labor intensive as it is time consuming (both “skin” and “filling” require time to cool-off and taste best when rested overnight) plus it requires lots of ingredients and kitchen tools (i.e. moon cake molds and a steamer) that will demand a trip to an Asian supermarket, perhaps even a bit of online shopping.

At the El Monte Library the cooking process was explained by Phoebe Chow, who leads similar workshops at multiple Los Angeles County libraries.

The recipe shared, she explained, is a contemporary version of the traditional Snowy Moon Cakes developed by Hong Kong bakers as a result of people becoming more health conscious and looking for formulas with less oil and sugar content.

In just about an hour, 20 or so workshop attendees watched her boil, knead, extend, wrap, and mold bite-size Snowy Moon Cakes complete with flowery designs. They even got to taste them.

According to city-data.com, 25% of El Monte’s population is Asian. And it was quite obvious during the workshop, where the conversation would jump from English to Chinese at any given time.

A great time was had by all, and those in attendance may just be getting ready to produce their home-made Snowy Moon Cakes for the Festival celebration next month. The recipe is rather long to insert here, but instructor Chow has it loaded on her website – morethanbread.net

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