Mooncakes in OTTAWA-recomend a bakery in Chinatown

[Steeve Urkel]

I keep on hearing about the Mooncakes on RFD and really want to try them.
I go to Chinatown alot on Ottawa, but am not familiar with any of the bakeries there.

Where would I find Mooncakes?
Also, I don't want any with the eggs in them...not a big fan of eggs in pastry!

I've tried different Japanese pastries, but thats not even the same thing...

Thanks!

-just looking to buy 1 or 2 cakes- not a huge amount as it's for 1 or 2 people :)

[aspiringnovelist]

You'll find them around the time of mid-autumn festival, which is in two or three weeks, so they might be in stores already. There aren't really many Chinese bakeries in Ottawa. Only one I can think of is St. Honores on Booth Street. They might have mooncakes there. But since they're basically imported from Asia and sold in tins, most grocery stores would have them. Kowloon Market on Somerset carries them, for example. And I know that Unifoods on Montreal Road has them as well. They're typically sold in boxes...not everywhere will sell them in singles.

As for egg yolks, traditional mooncake typically has it in there. It's supposed to represent the "moon" after all.

[ebizimage]

You can get the mooncakes from Costco Kanata this year. The ones made in Macau were all sold out within the first week of availability, so Costco put up the made-in-China ones for sale now. They are about $11/box of 4 mooncakes.

If you are looking for better quality ones, just get those from Kowloon Market on Somerset & Bronson or 168 Market near Wellington.

The ones that are usually most expensive (made in Hong Kong's welknown bakeries) are usually the best (About $40+/box of 4). I tried some made from Vancouver or Toronto and they were of very low quality. The ones made in China are not recommended coz every year, there are many scary reports of failure to maintain cleanliness during manufacturing process as well as unacceptable use of ingredients.

If you don't want eggs. There are those that are made with meat as well as different kinds of nuts, but usually mooncakes have salted duck eggs. The egg yolk represents the "moon" in the mooncake.

[aspiringnovelist]

You can get the mooncakes from Costco Kanata this year. The ones made in Macau were all sold out within the first week of availability, so Costco put up the made-in-China ones for sale now. They are about $11/box of 4 mooncakes.

Costco is sold out. See my post here http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=338889&page=5&pp=15

[taro-chan]

hmm.. I wouldn't touch the ones in Kowloon Market. =P. Althought they said they were made in HK.

There are many types of mooncakes.

Traditional Mooncake
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/19/Mooncake1.jpg/260px-Mooncake1.jpg

Modern cold iced Mooncakes
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/66/Yam_mooncake1.jpg/300px-Yam_mooncake1.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ec/Pink_jelly2.jpg

Courtesy of wiki =)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mooncake

Anyways, if you are going for the traditional mooncake, 1 should be enough for like 3-4 people. (Honestly). However, if you are getting the iced modern ones, you want a whole box. Those are just fantastic. =)

All this talk about mooncake makes me want to go buy some from T&T as I head down this weekend. =)

[cipher]

You want Wing Wah mooncakes...they come in a tin box.

[keanefan]

You want Wing Wah mooncakes...they come in a tin box.

info about mooncakes:
http://www.rascott.com/Asian%20Compendium/mooncakes.htm

I bought Wing Wah (Hong Kong) mooncakes last year and I didn't like this brand. Tasted dry.

http://www.wingwah.com/
http://www.mooncake.com

Mooncakes made in Canada (#1) or Taiwan seem to taste the best.
Third choice for me would be Hong Kong.

there are different mooncake filling flavours, with or without whole preserved egg yolk

some Chinese restaurants sell mooncakes, usually medium priced / expensive
restaurants.

Chinese supermarkets sell mooncakes.
Chinese bakeries sell mooncakes.

don't buy a lot of mooncakes, in case you don't like it.
it's not for everybody.

it's better to slowly eat the mooncake over several days.
Cut one mooncake into 4 pieces and eat 1 or 2 pieces per day.
it's not like a cupcake which you eat in one sitting.

-white lotus seed paste is good.
-red bean is not bad.
-there is a flavour which I recently discovered that I enjoy: it has nuts and shredded coconut.
-green tea not bad

[cipher]

info about mooncakes:
[url]

it's better to slowly eat the mooncake over several days.
Cut one mooncake into 4 pieces and eat 1 or 2 pieces per day.
it's not like a cupcake which you eat in one sitting.

-white lotus seed paste is good.
-red bean is not bad.
-there is a flavour which I recently discovered that I enjoy: it has nuts and shredded coconut.
-green tea not bad

I usually eat an entire box (4 mooncakes) in one sitting. My favorite is 4 yolks and red bean.

I don't like the coconut with nuts. It tastes weird.

[Steeve Urkel]

Thanks!

I don't like eggs in many pastries..even though I know it is traditional.

I also doubt I'd like the meat/pork filling as I don't eat much meat.

I'd mostly likely go for the fruit or nut filling or readbean.

I sometimes eat these Japanese pastries that are like dough on the outside with red bean paste inside.
they sell them frozen at a japanese store i shop at downtown.

[cipher]

Thanks!



I sometimes eat these Japanese pastries that are like dough on the outside with red bean paste inside.
they sell them frozen at a japanese store i shop at downtown.

Mochi?

[geestring]

haha that costco deal.

my parents got a bunch.

I wonder if its all white people purchasing.. I wish they would know the significance of the cakes. assuming they dont.

[ronin893]

Not many bakeries can make a good mooncake. You'll have better luck buying a mass produced product in a box. I recommend Maxim's brand. It's a large HK restaurant and bakery franchise. I think it's $28 for the ones without the preserved egg yolk.

[taro-chan]

Not many bakeries can make a good mooncake. You'll have better luck buying a mass produced product in a box. I recommend Maxim's brand. It's a large HK restaurant and bakery franchise. I think it's $28 for the ones without the preserved egg yolk.
$28 dollars for 4? It really depends on which ones you get for Maxim.

I just spent 45ish this weekend on the "Ice Skin Mooncake" from Maxim group. Came with this spiffy bag and nice tin. Lots of flavours, ie chocolate, mango, coffee... etc.

[Narci]

Nasty. My GF's friend distributes asian greocery products to big stores like T&T and such. They's had mooncake imported from overseas sitting in the warehouse since at least 4-5 weeks ago waiting for the festival to come around toe corner.

I hate to know how much perservatives is in that stuff.

You might be better off buying from a restaraunt/bakery that makes them instead of buying the mass produced ones.

[ronin893]

$28 dollars for 4? It really depends on which ones you get for Maxim.Yeah, I was referring to the traditional ones. The new exotic types are too rich for my wallet. :(


I hate to know how much perservatives is in that stuff.

You might be better off buying from a restaraunt/bakery that makes them instead of buying the mass produced ones.Not necessarily. Look at the jar of peanut butter in your kitchen cupboard. It has no preservatives, yet it lasts more than a year.

[bumbum]

There's a brand called "leen heung" and it comes from HK. Only a store called Yee Cheong Tong (Bronson & Somerset) sells them.

They are quite pricey, and I dunno if they have ones w/out the yolks.

But they are quite the authentic ones I trust nowadays.

[chennlee]

try TnT's, they g6t 5t

[Steeve Urkel]

Nasty. My GF's friend distributes asian greocery products to big stores like T&T and such. They's had mooncake imported from overseas sitting in the warehouse since at least 4-5 weeks ago waiting for the festival to come around toe corner.

I hate to know how much perservatives is in that stuff.

You might be better off buying from a restaraunt/bakery that makes them instead of buying the mass produced ones.

I'm not too worried about the preservatives, but I guess I wouldn't want to eat something really "old".

What about all the Christie cookies like Oreos? when you look at the package they usually expire in 4 or 5 months....and those weren't made recently...

Also I just bought some PC shortbread-there's no preservatives listed on thebox, it's the Organic shortbread...and the expiry date is: 07 MA 08
and I just bought them this week.....

I'll try and make a trip to Somerset this weekend :)

thanks!

[taro-chan]

try TnT's, they g6t 5t
There's no TnT in Ottawa.

And as long as there's no mold on the mooncake, it should be fine. They also package it with a preservative inside the tin. I wouldn't worry about expired mooncake especially before Lunar New Year.