Wuchuan Mooncake

Wuchuan is known for large Cantonese-style mooncakes with fillings of five kernels, ham, red bean or lotus seed paste, the skin glossy and thin, the filling dense and generous, a single cake often weighing well over half a kilo, a gift and reunion staple at Mid-Autumn.

Wuchuan is honoured as "China's hometown of mooncakes" (so named in 2010) with a long baking tradition; in 2013 the Wuchuan mooncake-making craft entered the fifth batch of Guangdong provincial ICH, and the industry has become a pillar of the local economy.

Sliced and shared around Mid-Autumn, best with hot tea, the five-kernel and ham fillings linger on the palate, the centrepiece of a family moon-watching table.

The half-kilo-plus size, the glossy thin skin and the dense five-kernel and ham filling set Wuchuan mooncakes apart.