Piglet Biscuits, Jue Zai Beng – 豬仔餅
When the weather starts to get noticeably cooler and you have to dig out your cardigans, you know that Mid-Autumn Festival fast approaching. Every year, Mooncakes get all the glory, and we don’t think that’s fair! This is why we feel it’s about time we introduced you to ‘Piglet Biscuits’ (豬仔餅, Jue Zai Beng – Cantonese).
Piglet Biscuits are a popular, chewy snack often sold alongside mooncakes during the Moon Festival. Remaining dough from making mooncakes is fashioned into the shape of little piglets or fishes and baked. These cute biscuits can sometimes have little dark beans as eyes, and are often sold in kitsch colourful plastic baskets. The more cynical reader may think these biscuits are just a canny way of selling up scraps of unused pastry, as something for the kids to gnaw on on the way home. Others will see them as a frugal and delightful festival snack in a symbol of wealth and prosperity. Either way, Piglet Biscuits have cemented themselves as a nostalgic childhood Moon Festival treat for many Chinese people.
The biscuits are usually made using a mould, similar to the moulds used to imprint mooncakes with their characteristic patterns and designs. The mould is dusted with flour and then filled with the sweet, fragrant mooncake dough. A sharp tap releases the piglet from its mould.
Read more about the fascinating traditions and foods associated with the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival here: