Would it be a Hong Kong autumn without an avalanche of mooncakes? These dense little cakes actually date all the way back to the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 AD)… talk about preservation!

So the story is actually pretty interesting: wondering why there’s a huge salted egg yolk in the center of each mooncake? It’s actually meant to represent a secret message. According to legend, Han Chinese revolutionaries hid the message  “Rise up in revolt, on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival” inside baked cakes and distributed them to the masses in order to deceive their Mongolian overlords back in the Yuan Dynasty—that’s 1271-1368 for all you historians.

It’s a wonder they could “rise up” at all, considering modern day mooncakes contain 1,000 calories a piece. Of course, back in the day, weight-watching rebels couldn’t exactly pick up a snowy mochi-style mooncake or an egg-custard concoction from The Peninsula’s Spring Moon. On that note—it’s probably about time to place an order for next year.