How do you combine moon cake and tea for sophistication?

Enjoying moon cakes with tea is a beauty in Vietnamese culinary culture. However, depending on the type of cake, you should choose the appropriate tea to make this combination more delicate and perfect.

/Anh Tuyet – VOV2/

When enjoying moon cakes, many people often brew a pot of tea to sip, feeling the combination of the cake’s sweet, fatty, and fleshy taste with the slightly astringent, sweet aftertaste of the tea. According to Doctor Bui Thi Tra Vi – Department of Nutrition and Dietetics at Hanoi Medical University Hospital, this combination is a culinary habit and brings health benefits. The acrid taste of tea helps soften the sweet and fatty taste of mooncakes, assisting people to feel less sick. Besides, active ingredients in green tea, such as caffeine and catechins, can promote metabolism and fat loss.

Eating moon cakes and drinking tea is a perfect and scientific combination.

Nowadays, in addition to traditional mixed fillings, moon cakes have many types of fillings with different sweet and salty flavours. To make the combination of tea and cake more perfect and delicate, Mr Nguyen Cao Son, a beverage expert and member of the Royal Association of Vietnamese Chefs, suggests that the sweet taste should be balanced when eating moon cakes. Think of combining it with green, black, and mint tea. Refreshing green and mint tea will improve glucose metabolism to prevent too much sugar from remaining in the body.

With mooncakes filled with meat and eggs and a lot of fat, pu-erh tea and chrysanthemum tea are a good combination because they help with weight loss. Besides, chrysanthemum tea has the function of reducing internal heat effects and purifying the body.

For mooncakes with a slightly sweet and salty taste, drinking oolong tea is a good choice. Because oolong tea promotes gastric acid secretion and helps support digestion, limiting fat absorption. Drinking oolong tea on an autumn night is a subtle choice with little effect on sleep.

“First water, second tea, three brews, four pots” are the 4 elements of a delicious teapot. The water used to make tea should be pure. Tea should be chosen with origins that ensure food safety. The teapot should be made of terracotta, porcelain or glass to avoid mixing the taste of the tea.

Mr. Nguyen Cao Son shared that when making tea, you should boil the water and let the water temperature drop to about 80 – 85 degrees Celsius. After rinsing the teapot, put the right amount of tea into the pot. For example, for 4-6 people, brew about 8g of tea. If there are more people, add a few grams. Pour water into the teapot to rinse and awaken the tea, then drain the water. Continue to pour water into the teapot and brew the tea for about 40-60 seconds. First, pour the water into a serving cup or divide the tea into small cups. The second water continues to brew for about 50-60 seconds and continues to pour evenly into the cups so that the water will have a beautiful colour and uniform, stable flavour. After brewing tea, you should drink it immediately; leave it for a short time.

What’s more enjoyable than gathering with loved ones, enjoying moon cakes and sipping a warm cup of tea?! It’s as simple as that but also creates a relaxing and fulfilling Mid-Autumn Festival.