I knew that Kia Hiang has a long history, but never knew that they were the first to introduce durian mooncake. Or so they claim. They also claim to be the innovator of bak-kwa 肉干 (barbequed pork jerky) mooncake, which I’ve reviewed for inSing.com as one of 5 innovative mooncakes of 2009. This post will explore the rest of the Kia Hiang’s mooncake offerings for 2009.
There’s a wide variety of baked mooncakes to choose from. For the traditional Cantonese-style mooncakes, they are available in both large (plain, single yolk, or double yolk) and mini sizes. The walnut mooncakes (those with shortcrust pastry) are available only mini sized.
Alright, I’m not going to post a pic of each kind of lotus paste mooncake, since they look the same, mini or large. But they all share the same traits — super thin skin, fresh salted egg yolk, crunchy melon seeds, and lotus paste that’s not too sweet.
To be honest, I’ve never been a fan of the Cantonese-style mooncake with its rich, chewy crust. Maybe that’s why I prefer the shortcrust pastry mooncake. Its lighter, crisp crust makes it a nice change. The citrus fragrance in the lotus paste is a lovely touch, and gives a refreshing edge to the otherwise sweet and heavy lotus paste.
For snowskin mooncakes, there are four flavors this year.
Now, I don’t usually like green tea in mooncakes, but fortunately, there’s no overpowering taste of matcha here. In fact, there’s a very delicate scent of jasmine in the paste. It’s also not too sweet, and the melon seeds provide a nice crunch. I’m a convert!
This was creamy, slightly sweet and tangy. Taste-wise, it was ok, but didn’t exactly make me go crazy.
But I did go gaga over the chocolate with rum and raisin! The bittersweet, dark chocolate filling is to die for! The only thing I didn’t like as much is the snowskin.
Sorry, this pic doesn’t really do justice to the snowskin. The durian mooncake had to be frozen, and after defrosting, the skin got limp and soggy. But durian lovers will love the pure durian pulp filling! Hubby and I were fighting over the last durian mooncake. It truly is divine! Like the chocolate, we enjoyed the filling more than the skin.
Click here for the full listing and prices of Kia Hiang’s mooncakes 2009.
If you haven’t bought your mooncakes this year, do hurry as Mid-Autumn Festival is just a week away! This year, it falls on Sunday, October 3 (15th day of the 8th lunar month).
Check out Camemberu and Sparklette‘s reviews on Kia Hiang mooncakes.
Thank you to Kia Hiang Restaurant and Pearlyn for the generous mooncake samples.
Kia Hiang Restaurant
201 Kim Tian Road
#01-400 (junction of Jalan Bukit Merah and Kim Tian Road)
Singapore 160201
Tel: (65) 6273 7353, 6272 008
URL: www.kiahiang.com.sg
Kia Hiang mooncakes are also available at these locations:
– Century Square, level 1 main lobby
– Takashimaya Square, B2
– Bugis Junction
– Raffles City, level 3
– VivoCity, facing Tangs
– Chevron House (Change Alley)
– Raffles XChange
Julia, been trying to find jelly mooncake molds every where in San Francisco but no luck. It seem so easy to make from recipes from webs. Snowskin also but need to try to make own cooked rice flour since none sold also in states. The fillings in cakes sold in states are regular type not special ones from Asia.
Hi Betty, maybe you could do a search for online stores that sell jelly mooncake molds?
I am so glad that you like the mooncakes. =)
Thanks so much for the samples. 🙂