10 Mid-Autumn Festival Foods Besides Mooncakes

Everyone knows that eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival is a custom that has been passed down since ancient times, but you may not know that besides mooncakes, there are many other special foods for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Let's take a look at what other delicacies there are besides mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

1. Ciba

Eating Ciba during the Mid-Autumn Festival in August originated over 2,000 years ago during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. It is a traditional custom passed down to commemorate the great general of the Chu State, Wu Zixu. Ciba is a token and a sacred food. The activity of pounding and eating Ciba while admiring the moon in August symbolizes unity, happiness, good fortune, and auspiciousness for every family. The stickiness of Ciba, forming a mass, symbolizes family harmony and unity; the sweetness of Ciba symbolizes a sweet and happy life; even the act of pounding Ciba early in the morning, the earlier the better, represents a larger harvest in the coming year; Ciba is made into large and small round shapes, symbolizing people's "affinity," celebration, auspiciousness, and reunion; of course, eating round Ciba naturally symbolizes the family being harmonious, united, and safe and sound.

Hakka Ciba

2. Hairy Crab

This is a custom in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions. The Mid-Autumn Festival is the season when "the crab roe is fat and the rice flowers are fragrant." According to "Compendium of Materia Medica," crabs have the effects of relaxing muscles and replenishing qi, regulating the stomach and aiding digestion, unblocking meridians, dispersing various fevers, and resolving blood stasis. Using plump red crabs to make soup is the most nourishing choice. First, add radish to a slow-simmered old hen broth and simmer on low heat for an hour, then add red crabs and pepper and cook until the crabs are done. The radish absorbs the rich and savory flavor of the chicken broth, occasionally with a hint of pepper's subtle spiciness. All the ingredients complement each other perfectly. The red crab roe is soft and the meat is thick, perfectly paired with radish and pepper to form a nourishing old fire soup rich in vitamins, suitable for moistening the throat and dispelling wind in the dry autumn season, making it especially suitable for ladies. At this time, a cup of Huadiao wine accompanied by golden crab meat is a great pleasure in life!

Steamed Hairy Crab

3. Taro

In the coastal areas of southeastern China, there is a custom of eating taro during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Legend has it that during the Ming Dynasty, Japanese pirates invaded the southeastern coast of China, and the people suffered greatly. Qi Jiguang was ordered to resist the pirates and achieved great victories. On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Qi's army celebrated in the camp. In the middle of the night, the pirates launched a surprise attack, surrounding Qi's army on a mountain and cutting off their food supply. After several days, the soldiers had to dig up many wild taro roots, which were delicious after being boiled, but they didn't know their name. Qi Jiguang said, "To commemorate the soldiers who died, let's call it 'Yuannan' (遇难, which means 'encountering disaster')." One night, after a hearty meal of "Yuannan," Qi's army bravely broke out and annihilated all the pirates in their sleep. After that, the people in the southeastern coastal areas ate sugar-baked taro during the Mid-Autumn Festival to remember the national crisis and Qi Jiguang's meritorious deeds in resisting the pirates. Over time, "Yuannan" gradually became "Yunai" (芋艿), the name for taro.

Scallion Oil Taro

4. Edamame

In the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, besides taro, people also specially steam edamame during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Edamame is locally also called "maodoujia" (毛豆荚), and "jia" (荚) is a homophone for words like "jia" (佳, meaning good) and "ji" (吉, meaning auspicious). Therefore, eating edamame is hoped to bring good fortune and everything to go smoothly. Moreover, the fat content in edamame is higher than in other types of vegetables, but it is mostly composed of unsaturated fatty acids, such as the essential linoleic acid and linolenic acid for the human body. They can improve fat metabolism and reduce triglycerides and cholesterol levels in the human body.

Research has also found that edamame has the effects of nourishing the skin, effectively improving loss of appetite and general fatigue. Edamame is rich in balanced nutrition and beneficial active ingredients. Regular consumption has a significant effect on women maintaining a slim figure; it also has preventive and auxiliary therapeutic effects on obesity, hyperlipidemia, atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, and other diseases.

Beer and Salted Edamame

5. Glutinous Rice Lotus Root

Lotus root is slightly sweet and crisp, and can be eaten raw or cooked. It also has quite high medicinal value. Its roots, leaves, flowers, stamens, and fruits are all treasures and can be used for nourishment and medicine. Lotus root powder can aid digestion and stop diarrhea, whet the appetite and clear heat, nourish the nature, and prevent internal bleeding. It is an excellent liquid food and nourishing treasure for women, children, and the weak or sick. During the Xianfeng era of the Qing Dynasty, it was designated as a tribute for the imperial cuisine. Lotus root also contains a large amount of tannic acid, which has a vasoconstrictive effect and can be used for hemostasis. Lotus root can also cool the blood and dispel stasis. In traditional Chinese medicine, it is considered to stop bleeding without leaving blood stasis, making it a good dietary therapy for febrile diseases with bleeding. Eating lotus root during the Mid-Autumn Festival symbolizes reunion. Filling the lotus root with glutinous rice and drizzling it with osmanthus honey, the fragrance of rice, lotus root, and osmanthus is rich and flavorful, symbolizing sweetness and happiness.

Glutinous Rice Lotus Root