National Mooncake Awards! Which of these 10 mooncakes do you like best?

Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional festival in my country, and eating and giving mooncakes is an indispensable thing. But if you eat the same mooncake every year, you will inevitably get tired of it. The author is also worried about the Mid-Autumn Festival. I have to write something about mooncakes, but when I write about them, they are high in oil, sugar and unhealthy - nothing new.

After thinking hard for a long time, hey! Why don't we have a Mid-Autumn Festival "reading" mooncakes this year and see what kinds of mooncakes there are!

There are many types of mooncakes. We usually like to classify them by fillings, such as the well-known "five nuts", various egg yolks, XX Rong... Very rich, but somewhat unstandardized. In fact, our mooncakes do have national standards . According to the national standards, mooncakes include at least the following types:

What kinds of mooncakes are there?

1Cantonese -style mooncakes

Among all kinds of mooncakes, Cantonese mooncakes have always been in the leading position and are particularly popular. It is a special mooncake in Guangdong. It is made of wheat flour and other grain flour or plant flour, syrup, edible vegetable oil and other ingredients to make the crust. It is processed by stuffing, shaping, brushing with eggs, baking (or not baking) and other processes. It has a soft taste.

Cantonese mooncakes have a particularly rich variety of fillings, such as the commonly eaten lotus paste filling, red bean paste filling, date paste filling, chestnut paste filling, five-nut filling, egg yolk filling, fruit filling, etc.

Five-nut mooncakes, the calories are mostly around 430kcal/100g, the picture is from the e-commerce platform

Red bean paste mooncakes, the calories are mostly around 380kcal/100g, the picture is from the e-commerce platform

Lotus paste with egg yolk, the calorie content is about 406kcal/100g, the picture comes from the e-commerce platform

2 Beijing-style mooncakes

The special mooncakes in Beijing are made with heavy oil and light sugar. They use the syrup extraction process to make syrup skin dough, or sugar water, oil, and wheat flour to make crispy skin dough, which is processed by stuffing, molding, baking and other processes. The taste is pure sweet or pure salty, with a crispy or soft texture and rich aroma. Generally, there are syrup extraction mooncakes, self-made white mooncakes, self-made red mooncakes, and large crispy skin (fur-turned) mooncakes. Among them, the skin of syrup extraction mooncakes is relatively thick and the taste is hard.

Some people may think that the red print on the self-made red mooncake is a pigment. In fact, the red pattern on the surface of the traditional self-made red mooncake is naturally formed after baking. The water-grinding stamp is made of sugar and alkali. The color printed on the cake blank is white at first, but it turns dark red after baking.

Zilaihong mooncakes, the calories are mostly around 480kcal/100g, the picture is from the e-commerce platform

3 Suzhou-style mooncakes

The mooncakes in Suzhou are made of wheat flour, sugar, oil, etc. to make the crust, wheat flour, oil, etc. to make the pastry, and then processed through the processes of making pastry, stuffing, forming, baking, etc., with a crispy layer and a crispy taste. Since "su" is the same as "su", "pastry" is also called "su skin". The fillings generally include rongsha, nuts (nuts not less than 20%), meat and meat products, and fruits and vegetables.

Su-style mooncakes, the calories are mostly around 460kcal/100g, the picture is from the e-commerce platform

4Chaozhou -style mooncakes

The mooncakes in Chaozhou are made of wheat flour, edible vegetable oil, white sugar, caramel, maltose, butter, starch, etc., wrapped with various fillings. The mooncakes are processed and made into mooncakes with thin and crispy skin, fragrant and soft. There are Chaozhou-style crispy mooncakes, Chaozhou-style crystal mooncakes, Chaozhou-style cream mooncakes, etc.

Chaozhou-style mooncakes, the calories are mostly around 400kcal/100g, the picture is from the e-commerce platform

5. Yunnan-style mooncakes

Yunnan's special mooncakes are made from wheat flour, buckwheat flour, and edible oil (lard, vegetable oil) as the main ingredients to make the crust, and Yunnan ham and meat cubes, various nuts, edible flowers, vegetables, white sugar, honey, rose sugar, washed sand, jujube paste, eggs, edible fungi, etc. as the main ingredients, and are filled with auxiliary materials and baked. They include Yunnan ham mooncakes, Yunnan ham, fruit, vegetable, and edible flower mooncakes, etc.

Yuntui mooncakes, the calories are mostly around 440kcal/100g, the picture is from the e-commerce platform

6Jin -style mooncakes

The mooncakes in Shanxi are made of wheat flour, edible vegetable oil, sugar, eggs, starch syrup, etc., wrapped with various fillings. They are sweet but not greasy, mellow, crisp but not loose. There are Jin-style egg mooncakes, Jin-style Guo Dulin mooncakes, Jin-style rammed mooncakes, Jin-style syrup mooncakes, etc.

Jin-style mooncakes, the calories are mostly around 400kcal/100g, the picture is from the e-commerce platform

7 Qiong-style mooncakes

Hainan's specialty mooncakes use wheat flour, peanut oil, syrup and other ingredients to make syrup skin, wheat flour, lard and other ingredients to make crisps, and then go through the processes of wrapping, pressing and folding to form syrup oil crisp skin, which is then stuffed, formed and baked. It has a crispy and soft texture, and the fillings include fruits and vegetables, paste, nuts, meat and meat products, egg yolks, and aquatic products.

Qiong-style mooncakes, the calories are mostly around 390kcal/100g, the picture is from the e-commerce platform

8 Taiwan-style mooncakes

Taiwan's special mooncakes are made from beans such as white beans, kidney beans, mung beans, and red beans, sugar (or no sugar), cream, fruit (or no sugar), eggs or egg products (or no sugar), etc., and are processed through steaming beans, making skins, stuffing, shaping, and baking. They have a crispy or soft texture, such as the Taiwanese Taoshan skin mooncake.

Taoshan mooncakes, the calories are mostly around 380kcal/100g, the picture is from the e-commerce platform

9 Ha-style mooncakes

The specialty mooncakes in Harbin are made using a syrup-extraction process to make syrup-skin dough, or using wheat flour, vegetable oil, and syrup to make a crispy skin dough (or using wheat flour, granulated sugar, and cream to make a crispy milk skin dough), which is then processed through a process including stuffing, shaping, brushing with eggs (except for milk-skinned ones), and baking.

The crust of the cake is soft and crispy, and there are Sichuan pastry, syrup-filled pastry, milk pastry and so on.

Harbin-style five-nut mooncakes, the calories are mostly around 450kcal/100g, the picture is from the e-commerce platform

10 Hong Kong-style mooncakes

In fact, it is also a branch of Cantonese mooncakes. Snow skin mooncakes are more popular among Hong Kong-style mooncakes. Most of them are made of glutinous rice flour and wheat flour. The mooncake skin is translucent and does not require baking. It can be eaten after being formed.

Snowy mooncakes, the calories are mostly 240kcal~340kcal/100g, the picture is from the e-commerce platform

What is the truth about sugar-free mooncakes?

Sugar-free mooncakes are very popular on the market, and some even claim that "diabetics can eat them without worry." Can sugar-free mooncakes be eaten without worry? Are they really worth buying?

1Sugar -free mooncakes are not really sugar-free

Many mooncakes are actually sugar-free mooncakes. Although there is no sucrose in the ingredient list, they contain maltose . Maltose raises blood sugar faster than sucrose, and is more detrimental to blood sugar control.

2nd generation sugar mooncake

Sugar alcohols are used to replace added sugars, such as xylitol and maltitol. Sugar alcohols are absorbed slowly in the body and have little effect on blood sugar. Compared with eating ordinary mooncakes, sugar-free mooncakes have more stable blood sugar levels after meals. However, if consumed in excess, unabsorbed sugar alcohols may cause bloating and diarrhea due to their osmotic effects.

Even if the mooncakes are truly sugar-free, you cannot eat them wantonly. After all, the main ingredient of the mooncake skin is starch, which will be converted into glucose in the body, thereby increasing blood sugar. Eating too much will also be detrimental to blood sugar control.

In addition, there are some low GI mooncakes on the market, which are characterized by containing higher protein and dietary fiber, so their ability to raise blood sugar is lower than that of ordinary mooncakes. However, these mooncakes are expensive. An 80-gram low GI mooncake costs about 30 yuan, which is 5 to 10 times the price of ordinary mooncakes.

A certain brand of low GI mooncakes, picture from an e-commerce platform

How to eat mooncakes healthily?

Mid-Autumn Festival is a day for family reunion, so you must eat mooncakes to celebrate the solar term. If you want to take care of your weight and blood sugar, it is recommended to eat like this.

1. Choose small mooncake

Mooncakes generally weigh 50-100 grams, and most have a calorie content of about 400 kcal/100g. The calories of a 100-gram mooncake are almost equivalent to a full meal, and you have to eat other dishes. It is easy to exceed the calorie limit for the whole day. In addition, mooncakes are high in fat and sugar, which makes it easy to gain weight. It is recommended to choose a smaller one to control calorie intake.

2 Homemade Snow Skin Mooncakes

Snow skin mooncakes are easy to make and do not require baking. They are suitable for home-made and have a relatively lower fat content. If the outer skin and filling are made with less oil and sugar, the calories will be much lower than other mooncakes.

3. Eat it for breakfast

Studies have found that eating a high-calorie, high-carbohydrate meal in the morning can help improve insulin sensitivity, and mooncakes are high-fat and high-sugar foods.

4 Reasonable Matching

Eating mooncakes with vegetables rich in dietary fiber and meat, eggs, milk, beans and other foods rich in protein can not only enhance satiety and help us control appetite, but also help stabilize blood sugar after meals. For example, eating mooncakes with a plate of broccoli fried with shrimp and a bowl of Chinese cabbage and tofu soup is a good choice. Office workers can also pair it with milk and cherry tomatoes.

Among the various types of mooncakes, the calories and fat content of Cantonese-style mooncakes, Beijing-style mooncakes, and Suzhou-style mooncakes are mostly high, while peach-skin mooncakes and snow-skin mooncakes are mostly lower in calories and smaller in portion, making them more suitable for those who want to lose weight. Which one do you like?

References

[1] GB/T 19855-2015, Moon cake[S].

[2] Jakubowicz D, Landau Z, Tsameret S, et al. Reduction in Glycated Hemoglobin and Daily Insulin Dose Alongside Circadian Clock Upregulation in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Consuming a Three-Meal Diet: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Diabetes Care, 2019, 42(12): 2171-2180.

Planning and production

Author: Xue Qingxin, member of Chinese Nutrition Society, registered nutritionist, health manager, public nutritionist

Review | Ruan Guangfeng, Deputy Director of Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center

Planning丨Ding Zong

Editor: Ding Zong