My first year in Taiwan, I
was more than a bit confused by the Moon Festival. Called the Mid-Autumn
Festival (Zhongqiujie) in Chinese, this lands in the exact middle of
fall according to the lunar calendar, a date that according to our Western
calendar just barely makes it into the beginning of autumn.
So, first of all, the end
of September or early October didn't seem like the middle of anything. And the
celebrations were so foreign to my tastes... just wandering around in the
evening, enjoying the full moon with a stuffed pastry. Okay, I did understand
the pastry part (who wouldn't?), but looking at the moon was just weird to me
back then. I had rarely even noticed the moon before Taiwan, except of course
when it did something particularly remarkable, like disappear in an eclipse.
But that is one of the
things I love about Chinese culture: the appreciation of everyday miracles.
Like the moon.
Now she's part of my life
in so many ways, and I always know exactly what phase she's in. (And yes, the
moon is most definitely a girl. I'll get to that later.) I like to look for her
whenever I get up at night, checking to see how she's doing and enjoying her
most when she's round and full and bathing the hills with a white
light.
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| Mmmmm, eggs |
The Chinese believe that
you can see the face of Chang'e there, who secretly tasted her husband's elixir
of immortality and then fled his wrath by escaping to the moon. Others see an
osmanthus (sweet olive) tree when the dark areas are at the top of the moon.
And of course there's the rabbit pounding out more of that elixir in a mortar,
which is why rabbits are part of the Moon Festival celebrations, too, and
you'll see them scampering over wrapping paper, boxes of the Chinese filled
pastries known as moon cakes, and prancing on depictions of the moon.
There's not a whole lot of
other foods traditionally associated with the Moon Festival, but I'd like to
change that. This one in particular should be a big hit: the poetic Clouds
Covering the Mid-Autumn Moon. Based on a recipe from one of my absolute favorite
Cantonese food writers, Jiang Xianzhu, this is a deliciously simple way with
eggs that even kids will love. You can make this as simple or as fancy as you
like, tailoring it to fit your menu and your guests.
Ms. Jiang recommends
topping this with just light soy sauce, some warmed-up oil, and a sprinkling of
both thinly sliced green onions and some cilantro. And the eggs are quite good
that way. But I like to tinker with the classics, and have found that this is
the perfect canvas for a wide variety of embellishments.
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| Silky, savory custard |
One of the best uses either
chopped flower mushrooms or tiny dried shrimp.
You can, of course, use diced poultry or meat, fresh shrimp, or whatever else
strikes your fancy. But little in life brings such consistent pleasure to my
palate as those flower mushrooms, and I never seem to get enough funk on my plate, so those teeny shrimp
are a close second place.
This Sunday (September 27) is the
Moon Festival. So, steam a bowl of these gloriously silky eggs for a late
dinner, take it by a window or sit out on the porch, and spoon in these
luxurious eggs while smiling back at Chang'e.
Clouds covering the
mid-autumn moon
Yún gài Zhōngqīu yuè 雲蓋中秋月
Guangdong
Serves 6 to 8 as part of a
multicourse meal, 2 to 3 as a main dish
Eggs:
4 large, really fresh,
organic, free-range eggs
2 cups cool water
1 teaspoon sea salt
Sauce:
2 tablespoons peanut or
vegetable oil
3 soaked flower mushrooms, or 3 tablespoons tiny dried shrimp
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons Shaoxing rice
wine
1 green onion, trimmed and
thinly sliced
1. Place a trivet in a wide
pot and fill the pot with just enough water that it is about an eighth of an
inch below the top of the trivet; this will keep the eggs silky by not
overheating the bottom of the dish.
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| Cover your steamer |
2. Beat the eggs lightly
and add both the water and salt. Beat them a bit more and then pour the liquid
through a strainer into a shallow heatproof 4-cup dish with a rim. Cover the
dish with foil and place it the trivet. (This foil will keep the water and steam
out of the eggs, as this will also help with the texture.) Cover the pot and
bring it to a boil, and then immediately lower the heat so that it barely
simmers. Steam the eggs for about 10 to 12 minutes. Check to see whether the
eggs are done by lifting up the edge of the foil; gently shake the dish to make
sure that the center is solid. However, don't overcook the eggs, as they will
get bubbly and spongy around the edges
3. While the eggs are
steaming, prepare the sauce. If you are using the mushrooms, trim off the stems
and cut the caps into a fine dice. If you are using the shrimp, place them in a
strainer and rinse them with cold water to remove most of the salt, then wrap
them in a paper towel to sop off the moisture.
4. Heat the oil in a wok
over medium-high heat and add either the mushrooms or shrimp. Adjust the heat
as needed, stir-frying them gently so that they barely brown and crisp up. Add
the oyster sauce and rice wine, stir a few times, and taste, adjusting the
seasoning as needed. Pour the sauce over the steamed eggs and sprinkle with the
onions. Serve immediately, allowing your guests to spoon the eggs onto their
rice.
