How mooncakes were once a secret weapon

Tis the season for mooncakes once again.

Just one bite into the velvety, chewy, sweet and salty treat and I was over the moon! This is what you’ll feel when you try Crystal Dragon’s homemade snow-skin mooncake with custard, mung beans, and chocolate fillings. The snow-skin mooncake’s crust is made from glutinous rice, which is frozen, hence its name. But before taking a bite, here’s a slice of legend.

According to Eric Lim, Crystal Dragon restaurant manager, mooncakes played a strategic role in a revolt during the Yuan dynasty, when the Mongols ruled China.

“Legend has it that rumors were spread about a disease outbreak, with a cure supposedly coming from eating special mooncakes,” Lim shared. “The mooncakes that were distributed had a secret message inside, which was a call to rise in revolt on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month.”

During the launch of Crystal Dragon’s Mid-Autumn Festival culinary offerings, we served as Lim’s secret army — tasked to try and take photos of the Instagrammable pink, green, and chocolate brown snow-skin mooncakes, post them on FB and IG, and spread the word about the restaurant’s other delicious authentic Chinese dishes.

Luck Is To Dine For?

The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Mooncake Festival, is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month of the year — when the moon is at its roundest and brightest.

The annual event brings family and friends all over the world together. Aside from appreciating the beauty of the full moon, they also partake of special and auspicious Chinese dishes that symbolize prosperity and are believed to keep the family intact.

At Crystal Dragon, Crown Tower’s signature Chinese restaurant, chef de cuisine Chan Choo Kean prepared exclusive a la carte dishes to usher in luck and good harvest in time for the festivity, which runs until Sept. 15.

For starters, chef Chan meticulously carved a whole Peking duck, which can be ordered whole and enjoyed two ways: as a wrap and cooked with rice vermicelli (pancit bihon). Though it’s not part of the Mid-Autumn Festival menu, our host Charisse Chuidian, vice president for PR, wanted us to try it because it’s Crystal Dragon’s signature fare. Besides, ducks represents fidelity in Chinese culture, and the roasted Peking duck’s reddish skin symbolizes happiness.

Another auspicious dish that we got to try was the Sea Treasure in a clay pot — braised sea cucumber and baby abalone with bean curd.

“It represents good fortune,” chef Chan explains. “The abalone’s shape, which looks like the wealth pot, symbolizes gold, while the sea cucumber has healing and therapeutic properties.”

The restaurant’s wok-fried Boston lobster tails looked almost too good to eat. Considered the “dragon of the sea,” lobsters symbolize unity.

The celebration, of course, would not be complete without mooncakes, the traditional Chinese pastries filled with lotus paste and double egg yolk. At Crystal Dragon, the traditional and snow-skin mooncakes are beautifully packaged and imported from Macau. They’re priced at P2,980++ for a box of four and P2,780++ for orders of 10 boxes or more.

This Mid-Autumn Festival, wish each other a long and happy life by sharing a box of mooncakes — make that Crystal Dragon mooncakes — with your loved ones.

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Crystal Dragon is on the upper ground floor, Crown Towers, City of Dreams Manila.

For reservations, call 800-8080, email guestservices@cod-manila.com or visit www.cityofdreams.com.ph and click the “Make a Reservation” tab on the upper right of the page.