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KUALA LANGAT: Having offered his moon cake and homemade cakes for more than 50 years, septuagenarian Soo Kim is still going strong making them the traditional way at his home in Taman Desa Jarom here.
At this Mid-Autumn Festival, the 72-year-old is producing about 10 different types of moon cake and cookies that are important during the celebration.
“I started learning how to make bread, cookies and kuih at age 16 from a bakery owner while working in his store.
“I’m still making them according to the way my teacher taught me,” Soo said at home.
Since mid-May, Soo started making various types of baked mooncakes, in addition to various breads and buns, with the help of his wife and two daughters, who later helped sell them at the Jenjarom morning market.
“Initially, it only offered several popular flavors like red bean, mung bean, and white lotus.
“When it was closer to mid-fall, I added more varieties like pandan mung bean paste, salted egg yolk moon cake and also snow skin moon cake, flaky yam moon cake and Shanghai moon cake.
“Others include moonlight cookies and traditional Lao bing Teochew,” he said, adding that Shanghai snowskin, flaky yams and mooncakes were created about six years ago following requests from the customers.
Starting his day at 4.30am, Soo stays close to tradition as he delivers the best flavors and textures on the skin of the moon cake.
“From the mooncake skin batter to the different fillings, they are all made with fresh ingredients in this kitchen.
“For example, to make the white lotus paste, we buy fresh lotus seeds from suppliers before washing and selecting the lower ones. We will then steam it for a little over two hours before cooking it into a paste.
“I tried mixing the dough with a machine, but it lacked texture and was more difficult to work with,” she said as she skillfully wrapped a ball of yam paste and lotus seeds with a moon cake skin.
His wife San Mooy Eng, 67, put the dough in a mold and shaped the moon cake.
Soo and her family can produce more than 500 mooncakes a day during the festival season.
As age advances, Soo said that she sometimes used the machine to make the mooncakes, especially when picking up orders.
The Mid-Autumn Festival, which dates back to ancient China, pays tribute to the moon and a good harvest.
Also known as the Mooncake Festival, it is traditionally celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar.
The term “moon cake” to describe the sweet delicacy was first used during the Tang Dynasty (618-907).
A popular legend also tells how the Han Chinese rebels used mooncakes to convey secret messages in the final uprising against the Mongol rulers, leading to the creation of the Ming dynasty in 1368.
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