It's that time again for one of the biggest and most ancient holidays in Hong Kong: the Mid-Autumn festival, which falls on October 3 this year. We all know what that means: Everyone's going to be gifting and gobbling up yolk-centred mooncakes, the culinary star of the occasion. Savoured whilst gazing under the full moon, it's all to honour  ancient folklore or an excellent excuse to unite around family and friends during the autumnal equinox. In a prelude to event, bakeries and restaurant kitchens all over town are churning out massive quantities of the calorific festival cake based on sweet bean pastes and wholesome duck eggs. But in recent years, consumers have been inundated with a plethora of options. Alongside the staunchly traditional variety, there are the more modern types such as sticky rice skinned 'snowy' cakes, not to mention the more bizarre flavours creeping into the market (foie gras, durian or caviar fillings?). Seeing how you're so dizzy with choice, we've narrowed down a list to help you pick a round moon shaped pastry that suits your palate and preferences. Presenting...

THE ENDURING CLASSICS
If you really want to go old-school, one of the best mooncake makers in town is Kee Wah, a local age-old bakery that's been around since 1938. Packaged in their iconic tin boxes decorated with folklore-style graphics, these cakes are something your grandparents would appreciate. Their specialty is the traditional white and golden lotus seed mooncakes (HK$208 for single yolks or HK$218 for double yolks—each box contains four pieces) prepared with premium peanut oil, lotus seeds and A-grade egg yolks. As these pastries are notoriously calorific, and as cholesterol heavy as a filet mignon steak, Kee Wah has also  launched a more low calorie edition of their signature lines by using natural sugar substitute, maltitol (HK$$218 for four pieces). A gift friendly Assorted Maltitol Mini Mooncakes Assortment box features light and bite sized versions with nutty centres alongside traditional lotus seed and yolks-centred pastries. A little tin of Chinese Teh Kuan Yin tea is also included. Available across all Kee Wah stores, this assortment is at a reasonable HK$148 for six pieces. For more information, go www.keewah.com.

CUSTARD IS IN
Creamy fillings continue to be a raging mooncake trend as many bakers now have a custard-orientated range. If you bite into The Peninsula hotel's version, you can see why. They arrive in mini portions that are lighter than the traditional kind, and suit more Western palates. Due to popular demand, the hotel is producing whopping 400,000 moon cakes (or 12,000 a day) this year. Chef Lau Ping Lui Paul and dim sum chef Yip Wing Wah of Spring Moon restaurant, have turned the kitchen into a mad factory as a result, training their staff of 27 people to churn out 12,000 pastries daily. "Even this is not enough to satisfy demand," explains Chef Yip. "If we could make twice as many, we could sell them." Particularly beloved by the city elite, order a box while stocks last. Spring Moon mooncakes are HK$198 a box with 8 mini-pieces. To order, call the restaurant at +852 2315-3160.

Update (30/09/2009): Spring Moon's mooncakes have already sold out! 

GOURMAND AND EXOTIC
Jumping onto the custard mooncake wagon too is Michelin two-starred Shang Palace. But this restaurant has kicked it up a (decadent) notch by tucking in exotic and high end ingredients into these pastries Black truffles in mooncakes? Sure. Dim sum chef Chung Chi Ming, after much cooking experimentation in the kitchen, found that these truffles paired well with the taste and texture of their custard-centred festival cakes. This is the first time at Shang Palace has launched pastries stuffed with the coveted fungi imported from France. They also arrive with a bird's nest version with chopped bits of swallow nest blended into the creamy centre. This whole combination is HK$388 containing six pieces in a box. To order, call +852 2733-8757.

THEY MELT IN YOUR MOUTH
Traditionalists may be irked by the idea of chocolate mooncakes—they're nothing like the old school recipes except that they're in round moon-like shapes—but these alternatives are a rising trend in Hong Kong especially for those who aren't fans of the yolk-centred goodies. Most bakeries (and naturally chocolatiers) produce cocoa-based versions with centres based on fruit, nuts, caramel and other confectionary-like cores. The Langham Hotel has prepared six tropical and summer fruit flavours, from coconut and mango to strawberry and raspberry, also matched with either white, dark or milk chocolate exteriors. Try the Christmas-like  cranberry and blackcurrant flavoured mooncake with a white chocolate mould, or a dark and bitter chocolate version centred with mango, passion fruit and redcurrant jelly. Belgian chocolatier GODIVA is also getting in on the act with a line that applies a less fruity, more nutty approach. A box containing four ‘mooncakes' feature dark chocolate filled with chestnut cream, or milk chocolate with a walnut praline middle. The Langham Hotel's box of six is HK$188. To order, call +852 2375-1133. GODIVA's limited edition mooncake boxes start from HK$328 for 4 pieces, available at all their stores. For more information, go to www.godiva.com.hk.

 

THE SNOWY GENERATION
When Tai Pan bakery debuted their snowy range years ago—a chilled (rather than baked) interpretation of mooncakes in a glutinous rice mould—they practically flew off the shelves. Quickly shifting from the unconventional kind to achieving great mass appeal, these cakes are a blockbuster hit thanks to youngsters seeking more light and fluffy ice-cream like flavours. Today, practically every mass-market mooncake maker is following Tai Pan's lead. Every year, new flavours crop into the 'snowy' scene that are geared heavily towards an Asian palate. From so many options, avoid the aggressively experimental flavours. Tai Pan's latest gimmick is using more extravagant ingredients, items you'd normally expect at a French fine dining restaurant, fused into such Asian style desserts. The results, however, end up tasting tacky and incredibly ill-thought out. We're talking about the duck liver with cheese filling (HK$50 each), caviar with cheese (HK$50) and champagne with white grapes and cheese (HK$45); all these cakes also contain a layer of green mung bean paste. Instead, stick to the simple flavours that made these thin-skinned cakes ubiquitous in the first place. Try the red bean or green bean paste fillings, as well as the custard ones that are refreshing, like Japanese mochi rice cakes. Check it out a www.taipan.com.hk or call +852 2351-3222 to order. 

 

THE MOST POLARIZING ON THIS LIST
Controversy is never far from G.O.D, a local lifestyle and homeware brand that's behind these cheeky pun-intended buns. Founder Douglas Young is quite the provocateur ever since he was slapped on the wrist for his t-shirts printed with local gangster insignias, to the Delay No More tees that are a hit amongst the youth (pronounced in Cantonese, this slogan can mean something more profane). Its risqué pastries, styled in backsides going through various states of unclothing, follow the same attention-getting vein. First launched last year, despite the couple of complaints phoned in by pedestrians passing the storefronts showcasing these head-turning pastries, they were sold out in a matter of days. This time round, G.O.D got better prepared with a larger stock in place. Prepared in association with the Maxim's Group bakery, they taste exactly like the traditional variety (sweet lotus paste with salty yolk centred pastry). So why the butt theme? With the brand's knack for puns, in Cantonese, the cakes can also mean your backside. The ‘Full Moon collection' showcases 8 styles, at HK$65 each, that are popular gag gifts to get a laugh out of your friends (or quite a different reaction if you present them to your despised employer). None will win any mooncake beauty contest, but these pastries stir a reaction amongst people anyway. Apparently that's the whole point, stemming from a founder who's motto is: "Pushing the status quo and to challenge taboos, that's the role I want to play. That is why my work is confrontational—you either like it or you don't."  Available at any G.O.D store, or visit www.god.com.hk to complete a pre-order form.