Snowskin Mooncakes

Day 128: Never mind how long it took to collect all the ingredients, never mind the hours spent watching YouTube videos until I finally found a recipe which addressed all the whys, wherefores and pitfalls. The fact is, this project began roughly eight hours ago with a countertop full of little bowls with carefully measured amounts of various flours, oils, salt, sugar and so on, and a Crow blithely oblivious to the amount of work ahead. That said, everything went smoothly and according to the instructions, and despite the fact that my kitchen looks like the aftermath of a Holi festival, the dishes are washed and my first batch of Snowskin Mooncakes is complete. One small mishap occurred when I pressed too firmly while molding the first one. I chalked it up to a learning experience and ate the evidence, all but that last bite you see in the foreground. These mooncakes do not require baking. The dough is cooked before it is molded around the filling (in this case, a thick custard). The word "sticky" has achieved a new status in my vocabulary because both the rice-flour skin and the custard centers are worked by hand before chilling. Even cold, both have a consistency which could put Gorilla Glue out of business. However, once dusted with cooked glutinous rice flour, these treats can be molded and handled without sticking to anything. Although the flavour and texture of rice pastry might not appeal to some Western palates, I think these are delicious! But damnation, they're a lot of work!