Pork mooncakes are often eaten with a cup of tea. [Photo/ WeChat account: sndlyj]
As the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, mooncakes stuffed with pork, a specialty unique to Suzhou and surrounding areas in southern Jiangsu province, are the most popular seasonal food with the average sales of a single shop ranging from 20,000 to 30,000 per day.
These classic savory mooncakes have rich ground pork fillings and a crispy and flaky outer pastry.
The crispy skin is made using traditional Chinese cooking stoves, while the secret to the juicy pork is lard, a substitute for butter that is widely enjoyed by Chinese people for bringing out the fragrance of meat.
With just a small bite, the mooncakes will fill your mouth with layers of flaky crust, juicy filling that has a proper balance between fat and lean – 30 percent and 70 percent, respectively – and delicious gravy still hot from the stove.
Why are pork mooncakes so popular in Suzhou? The answer may lie in the city's long history of savoring the delicacy – pork mooncakes originated in Suzhou in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and gained popularity in the Song Dynasty (960-1279).
There are many famous pork mooncake shops in Suzhou, such as Xucheng, Changfa, Yeshouhe, and Huangtianyuan. The time-honored shops have also developed some new flavors this year, including abalone, black truffle, ham, and lard with scallions.
