While passing the time with EthnoJunkie before joining some friends at a Sunset Park restaurant, I pointed out several stands selling moon cakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival. These Fujianese moon cakes were flatter and broader than their Cantonese counterparts; some approached the size of a personal pizza. For $10, my friend took the plunge and added one to his ever-present goodies bag. After dinner, in lieu of dessert, five of us took turns tearing away chunks of the heavy pastry as we walked back to the subway; four of us went in for seconds.
Several days later, a one-man moon cake purchased in Manhattan proved to be much less satisfying; a return trip to Brooklyn was in order. At Lucky Zhang's, the stoopline stand was still piled high. I plucked a moon cake off the top shelf, as my dining buddy had done, but the proprietress bade me put it down. (With gestures, mainly. Fujianese speakers like this lady can, in theory, understand Mandarin, just not my Mandarin.) She took my hand and placed it on a plastic-wrapped moon cake sitting with its fellows in a box on the sidewalk — still warm. I happily paid $12, including, apparently, a $2 surcharge for bakery freshness.
Like a Cantonese moon cake, perhaps a Fujianese moon cake is meant to be eaten decorously, in thin slices, but flipping it sesame-seed-side-up and tearing it open gave a good look at the abundant fillings. These included roasted peanuts, jujubes, a few golden raisins, and pale green items that might have been candied winter melon, all held in place with the help of an inordinately large ration of lard. Imagine a Snickers bar made with Chinese ingredients, then fattened up further, and you'll have some idea of the density; factor in the weight, about four pounds, and suddenly snack time approaches critical mass. Fortunately another friend was on the scene to help me defuse the moon cake situation.
Lucky Zhang's Family II
5622 Eighth Ave. (56th-57th Sts.), Sunset Park, Brooklyn
718-439-3366
(One of several Lucky Zhang's storefronts in a two-block stretch)
