Once upon a time, mooncakes only contained one egg yolk. Then, some creative chefs made it two. Then the war started – three and four. Four was usually seen as the maximum that can realistically fit into a mooncake, while still having some lotus paste.
Why so many egg yolks? The idea is that the lotus paste in the mooncake tend to be dry. By adding in more egg yolks, the oil from the egg yolk will seep into the lotus paste, keeping it moist and smooth. Also, the rich taste of the egg yolk will be transferred to the lotus paste to make it taste better.
Well, I don’t buy into this idea. My view is that each additional cholesterol-filled egg yolk will increase the risk of heart disease. More egg yolks may taste better, but I rather live a few more years to enjoy a few more mooncakes. In fact, I prefer mooncakes with no egg yolks at all.
Until now.
Because recently, I received a five yolk mooncake as a gift. Yes, you read it right – five, cinque, 五. I was curious how one can fit five egg yolks into a mooncake. I imagine I will be eating a mooncake with only egg yolk and hardly any lotus paste.
We shall see…
This mooncake feels much heavier than normal mooncakes. The shape is more oval than the usual ones which is squarish with rounded corners. The middle is also a bit thicker than the sides, creating a slight bump. I assume the unique shape is to have enough space to fit the fifth egg yolk.
I cut it opened. As you can see from the pictures, there are three egg yolks on one side. There are two more yolks on the other uncut side which is not shown in the pictures. Each egg yolk is quite big so they did not try to cheat an put small egg yolks in it. Amazingly, there’s still quite a lot of lotus paste in the mooncake. This is quite impressive.
Now the crucial taste test. Has the egg yolks improved the taste and texture of the lotus paste so much that it’s worth all those cholesterol? Well, I was skeptical but the answer is a definite… YES!
The texture of the lotus paste is smooth and oily. It’s exactly how mooncakes should be. The taste of the lotus paste is amazingly good. The lotus paste they used was of a good quality and the egg yolk has made it amazing. I have never tasted a mooncake this good. Especially in recent years where they are all made in a few generic white-labelled factories.
I guess there is still that cholesterol issue in the back of everyone’s mind. Well, this is my opinion. If you can fit ten yolks into a mooncake, give it to me!
I received this as a gift from a friend. I do not know where it was bought from (unfortunately).
Send mooncakes to Brexit hit London.