The Mid-Autumn Festival is a time of appreciation and togetherness, when cherished traditions and treasured moments are celebrated. And for this year’s celebration, Hilton Kuala Lumpur is inviting you to embrace sentiments, create lasting memories, and experience the true essence of this remarkable event with the hotel’s ‘Luminous Treasures’ collection.
The Luminous Treasures mooncake box thoughtfully includes a complementary set of teapot and two tea cups. This exquisite tea set not only pairs well with the specially-crafted delicacies, but also invites you to embark on a sensory journey, immersing yourself in the celestial flavors of the festival through perfectly-paired tea selections.
Expertly-crafted using sustainable bamboo materials, the Luminous Treasures mooncake box embodies elegance and cultural significance, showcasing a captivating depiction of ocean waves gracefully cascading beneath a resplendent full moon. Symbolizing harmony and abundance, the ocean waves in the design represent the ebb and flow of life, reflecting the cyclical nature of the seasons and the lunar calendar. Drawing inspiration from traditional Chinese folklore, the full moon, a symbol of unity and reunion, shines brightly, signifying the cherished tradition of gathering loved ones and sharing mooncakes during this auspicious occasion.
The ‘Luminous Treasures’ collection offers three enchanting variations, each curated to delight the senses. We at Hype recently had the pleasure of sampling the very ‘treasures’ in question at the Hilton Kuala Lumpur’s celebrated Chynaa restaurant.
We started off with hot eight treasure tea presented by… a Kung Fu Tea Master! When you dine at Chynaa, you get to enjoy some really slick kung fu moves while sipping your Chinese tea. It was definitely a fun cultural spectacle!
Traditional Baked Mooncakes
Indulge in the artistry of Traditional Baked mooncakes, meticulously-crafted by Chynaa’s talented culinary team. The set features a selection of four signature traditional baked mooncakes, showcasing the finest ingredients and time-honoured recipes. The options offered are Signature Baked White Lotus Paste, Signature Baked Lotus Paste with Single Yolk, Signature Baked Pandan Paste with Single Yolk and Signature Baked Red Bean Paste with Almond Flakes.
Overall, the first four mooncakes seemed like typical Mid-Autumn festival pastries, although they were all very good. The ones with the yolk had a surprisingly salty taste, while the sweetness was well-balanced and not overwhelming. The first four mooncakes were paired with Oolong tea – which tasted fantastic. We felt like the tea helped to cut down the sweetness and cleanse our palate before trying the next mooncakes.
After the first round of rather basic pastries, the mooncake game levelled up with flavour we rarely experience. The next four were Special Baked Yam Lotus Paste with Single Yolk, Special Baked White Lotus Paste with Single Yolk, Special Baked Black Sesame Lotus with Single Yolk and Special-Traditional Style Baked with Five Nuts. We paired these four mooncakes with Pu-Er tea. This tea was a good pairing, especially for mooncakes with yolk, as it cuts down on the oiliness. We truly enjoyed them as an ensemble!
Our favourite from the second platter were the Yam Lotus and Black Sesame. You could taste the “yammy” flavour from the Yam Lotus, followed by a hint of saltiness from the yolk. The Black Sesame had an intense nutty flavour, with a pinch of saltiness. The one that caught us by surprise was the Five Nuts. We found it slightly overwhelming, as it’s not a flavour you usually encounter during the festival. Nonetheless, it had a zesty, citrusy and nutty taste, with a chewy texture. It had lots of nuts and reminded us of dried orange pee.
Artisanal Snow Skin
Compared to baked mooncakes, snow skin mooncakes differ slightly. The original snow skin mooncake is served cold and features an exterior layer that is white, chewy, and mochi-like. Hence, that’s how it got its name “snow skin”. But these days, you can find snow skin mooncakes that are colourful and even aesthetically alluring. At Chynna, we tried five kinds of snow skin mooncakes. The signature flavours at Chynna are the Blue Moon, Flower Drum and Heavenly Gold.
The Blue Moon, as its name suggests, is a light blue-coloured mooncake. It has a filling of Amaretto Lotus Paste with Blueberry Cheese Feuillantine. A blueberry cheese mooncake – now that’s surprising! The texture was chewy and biting into the filling was really satisfying. It really had that cheesy and citrusy flavour, and paired so well with the lotus paste. Flower Drum, meanwhile contains lotus paste and soft custard egg yolk. It also had a perfectly chewy texture and well-balanced flavour. The next was our absolute favourite: Heavenly Gold. This snow skin mooncake is made with premium Musang King Durian. Durian lovers will definitely want more after having just one bite. The flavour was so authentic – it was super creamy, sweet and you could smell it the minute you cut it open. Trust us when we say this – one piece wasn’t enough!
Next, we had Hilton’s 2023 Signature flavours, which were the Chocolate Crescent and Ember Jade. Chocolate Crescent had a pretty and fun appearance, with so much colour going on. Cutting it open, we found chocolate paste sourced from local chocolate and Macadamia nuts. The chocolate filling was super rich and we loved it. It literally screamed “dessert”. Ember Jade was a rather odd flavou,r but we think we liked this one too.
Now, one thing Malaysia is known for is Nasi Lemak. So, Ember Jade is the dessert version of Nasi Lemak! The filling is made with pandan lotus paste and has crunchy sambal and XO sauce fillling. It had a spicy, sweet, savoury and nutty flavour, all in one go. The crunchy bits seemed like anchovies – who would ever think to do that?! But actually, the crunchiness was just sugar, which added a sweetness to balance out the overall flavour of the mooncake. We paired the snow skin mooncakes with iced chrysanthemum and wolfberry tea. This elevated the flavour and it was a good, flowery pairing.
Last but not least, we ended our meal with some savoury bites. Yeah, we know it’s the total opposite of savoury first, dessert later. But it was delicious! We indulged in some of Chynna’s Signature Dim Sums such as Lychee Balls, BBQ Chicken Puff, Salad Prawn Dumpling, and Prawn and Mozzarella Cheese. The dim sum were fresh, super-savoury and yummy in every way. Of course, we had more tea to indulge in! All in all, an extremely satisfying meal!
