National dishes of different countries allow not only to enjoy exotic cuisine, but also to better understand the traditions of another people. Everyday dishes, delicacies - all this is part of the modern life of the country's inhabitants. But not the best dishes, but what came from the distant past, will tell about the history of the people in the best way possible.
Gingerbread yuebin
Yuebin Lunar Gingerbread is a national Chinese delicacy stuffed with nuts. This dessert has its own history and tradition. Initially, such gingerbread cookies were intended as a gift to the Moon for a good harvest, but in modern China they are presented to relatives, friends and relatives as a sign of respect and respect with wishes of health and well-being. The name of the filling means perfection, ideal, harmony. The filling traditionally consists of almonds, peanuts and walnuts, as well as sunflower and sesame seeds. Gingerbread cookies serve as a table decoration.
How is yuebin prepared
In China, the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated annually. Its second name is the Lunar Gingerbread Festival, as it is on these days that it is made and presented in very large quantities. For the preparation of national delicacies, a special form for the moon cake is needed. It consists of various nozzles with Chinese drawings.
The traditional gingerbread has a round shape that symbolizes the moon. It is decorated with intricate patterns or hieroglyphs. It is prepared from flour, fat, sugar and molasses. The classic filling consists of dates, honey, bean puree, or nuts. In the middle is a salty duck yolk, meaning the full moon. Over time, other fruits such as cocoa, ham, lard, candied fruit, maltose and butter were added to the traditional fillings.
The dough in the gingerbread is very small, it is soft, slightly creamy in taste and happens to be wheat or rice. The main thing is to remember that the filling should be sweet and not hard, and also combine both sweet and salty taste. Ornaments also depend on the composition of the filling. Round and square gingerbread is produced in China and its provinces, as well as various types of moon cakes with the most diverse filling, which can be spicy, sweet, spicy and salty.
Consider one of the options for a traditional Chinese delicacy - a moon cake recipe with nuts filling.
Shanghai gingerbread cookies with nuts
For the test you will need:
- Flour - two glasses.
- Butter - fifty grams.
- Sesame oil - one teaspoon.
- Brown sugar - two tablespoons.
- An egg is one piece.
- Water - 0.5 cups.
For filling:
- Butter - one tablespoon.
- Peanuts - one tablespoon.
- Walnuts - one tablespoon.
- Dried fruits - two tablespoons.
- Pine nuts - one tablespoon.
- Brown sugar - one tablespoon.
- Dried apricots - two tablespoons.
- Sesame - one tablespoon.
- Almonds - one tablespoon.
- Rice flour.
Making Gingerbread Dough
First you need to knead the dough for the moon cake. To do this, mix flour, salt and sugar. Cut the butter into small pieces and put in flour. Next, chop the flour and butter with a knife until crumbs are formed. After this, gradually add water and knead the dough. Cover the finished dough with a towel and set aside so that it fits.
Making the filling
According to the recipe for Chinese moon cakes, all nuts must be a little toasted. Put a dry frying pan without oil on fire. When it warms up, first place peanuts in it, fry for three to four minutes, then fry sesame and other nuts.
Place the roasted nuts in a blender and grind. Cut dried fruits into small pieces and grind in a blender with nuts to a paste. Then roll the paste into a tourniquet and cut into circles, from which to form balls.
We form gingerbread cookies
Roll out the dough and cut circles out of it. Place one filling ball on each circle, wrap the filling in the dough and place in a special printing form. Carefully, so as not to damage the dough, remove the gingerbread cookies from the mold and put on a baking sheet greased with oil and covered with baking paper. Combine the egg with sesame oil in a separate small bowl, stir and grease all the gingerbread cookies. Place a baking tray with gingerbread cookies in a preheated to one hundred eighty degrees oven and bake for about thirty-five minutes until a golden crust forms.
Gingerbread yuebin with beans and eggs
Yuebina gingerbread cookies are a traditional Chinese treat. If you want to try to cook it yourself at home, but are not sure that you can do it, then you need to follow the recipe for Chinese moon cake. The result will exceed your expectations. Cooking gingerbread cookies is not as difficult as it might seem.
What products do we need for the test:
- Flour - five hundred grams.
- Maple Syrup - Half a Cup
- Peanut butter - twenty milliliters.
- Powdered milk - five grams.
- Liquid caramel - one teaspoon.
- Syrup from sugar - thirty-five grams.
- Sugar - one teaspoon.
- Salt is half a teaspoon.
- Soda is a pinch.
- One egg yolk for lubrication.
Filling:
- Walnuts - half a cup.
- Red adzuki beans - two hundred grams.
- Ghee - four tablespoons.
- Vanillin - one bag.
- Quail eggs - fifteen pieces.
- Brown sugar - one glass.
- Powdered sugar.
- Maple syrup.
Step cooking
Combine maple syrup, peanut butter, one tablespoon of water, soda, sugar, salt, liquid caramel in a bowl and mix all the ingredients well. Pour flour so much that the dough is elastic and soft enough, and put it in a cold place for two - two and a half hours.
In this recipe for moon cake, it is necessary to prepare the ingredients for the filling long before the test itself, since cooking takes a lot of time. You need to start with red beans, they must be soaked in water for thirteen to fifteen hours. Water must be changed several times during this time. Then pour red beans into water and put on fire. After boiling, simmer for about two hours until cooked.
Finely chop the nuts with a knife and pour them with maple syrup for thirteen hours. Boil quail eggs hard-boiled and gently separate the yolks from the protein. Pour the yolks with salt water and cool. Place the cooled cooked red beans in a blender, pour a little broth and chop to a puree state.
Wipe the pore through a sieve and put in a frying pan greased with butter, pour sugar, vanillin and fry until the mass is well cooked. Put the syrup and nuts into the pan, mix and cool.
Divide the chilled dough into equal parts and roll into balls. From the filling, also make balls the size of a plum. In the center of the filling, make a depression and place the yolk in it.
Roll the dough ball out thinly, place the filling in the center and wrap. Place the yuebin in a special greased gingerbread mold, greased, and then gently removed from the mold. Put all the gingerbreads thus formed on a baking tray greased with oil and covered with foil for baking. Place the pan in the oven preheated to two hundred and twenty degrees. Bake until golden brown for ten to twenty minutes. After baking, sprinkle with powder, cool and refrigerate. The traditional Chinese dessert, the moon cake is ready, it is perfect for a cup of unsweetened tea or another drink.
Lunar gingerbread with prunes and raisins
Chinese moon cakes have a long history. Nowadays, the composition of both the test and the filling has undergone quite large changes. But, as before, the carrot remains a traditional Chinese delicacy. There are many ways to make moon cakes. You must strictly adhere to a specific recipe and believe in yourself.
For the test you need:
- Flour - three glasses.
- Butter - seventy-five grams.
- Vanillin - three packs.
- Sugar - three tablespoons.
- Honey - two tablespoons.
- Grated ginger - one teaspoon.
- Water is one hundred and fifty milliliters.
- Salt is half a teaspoon.
For filling:
- Raisins - one hundred and fifty grams.
- Coconut flakes - one hundred and fifty grams.
- Prunes - two hundred grams.
- Ground nuts - seventy-five grams.
- Poppy - seventy-five grams.
For glaze:
- Sesame oil - two tablespoons.
- Eggs are two.
Cooking process
Sift flour into a bowl, add ginger, sugar, salt, vanillin and mix. Put butter in flour and grind until crumbs are formed. Then gradually pour honey and water. Knead soft elastic dough for half an hour. Cover with a towel and set aside.
Now you can start preparing the filling for the moon cakes. Dried fruits are sent to a food processor. Grind them to a paste consistency. In turn add raisins, coconut, nuts and poppy seeds. With the help of a combine you need to grind and mix all the ingredients. As a result, the paste should be sticky.
The prepared filling should be divided into nine identical parts and form balls from them. Next, you need to again knead the previously prepared dough. Also divide it into nine equal parts and make balls out of them. Now you can proceed directly to the formation of the moon cake.
Roll the dough ball into a circle with a thickness of not more than three millimeters. Then take the ball from the filling and put it in the center of the circle. Carefully wrap the filling in the dough and pinch. Form all the other balls. After that, each ball must be placed in a special form for moon cakes and crushed.
Gently, so as not to damage the dough, push the gingerbread out of the mold. Put the gingerbread cookies made in this way on a baking sheet greased with oil and covered with baking paper. In a separate bowl, beat sesame oil with egg and anoint all the gingerbread cookies. Preheat the oven to two hundred degrees and place a baking tray with gingerbread for thirty to forty minutes until a golden crust forms. A traditional Chinese delicacy called yuebin, or moon cake, is ready. This is a great addition to a cup of freshly brewed Chinese tea.