Pair the right tea with mooncakes.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, and mooncakes are always a part of celebrating family reunions. An environmental group recently released its latest survey results, showing that over 1.9 million mooncakes were discarded in Hong Kong last Mid-Autumn Festival. To avoid waste, I decided not to buy mooncakes this year and made mung bean paste snowy mooncakes with my son for the first time. I prepared low-oil and low-sugar filling first, then we made the wrappers together, but we ended up with flour, rice flour, and glutinous rice flour all over the floor. The hardest part was waiting 30 minutes for the mooncakes to chill before we could eat them. Most mooncakes are high in oil and sugar, often giving a greasy feeling. If you want to celebrate the festival but are worried about feeling heavy, you might consider pairing mooncakes with hot tea. This can not only enhance the mooncake flavor but also help cut through richness and alleviate indigestion. 1. Traditional Savory Mooncakes (e.g., salted egg yolk mooncakes, five-nut mooncakes, ham mooncakes) Pair with Pu-erh tea: It can help with meat digestion, dispel phlegm, clear heat and detoxify, and quench thirst. Highly fermented Pu-erh tea is rich in lipase, which can inhibit oil absorption and reduce the feeling of fullness. The tannins in tea can affect protein absorption, hinder protein digestion, and have a laxative effect. 2. Sweet Mooncakes (e.g., red bean paste mooncakes, lotus seed paste mooncakes, custard mooncakes) Pair with Green Tea: Such as Longjing and Bi Luo Chun green teas. These can clear heat and detoxify, refresh the mind, and quench thirst. As they are unfermented, the tea polyphenols in the tea leaves are not destroyed, which helps accelerate glucose metabolism in the body and regulate blood sugar. 3. Snowy / Fruity Mooncakes Pair with Flower Tea: Roselle tea, rose tea. The sour taste of roselle tea can help alleviate indigestion, boost appetite, quench thirst, and clear heat and detoxify. Rose tea can nourish blood and qi, beautify the skin, and promote blood circulation. Its delicate floral aroma can complement the fruity taste of the mooncake.