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Dong Khanh, Duc Phat and Thanh Long
have also prepared more cakes.
Hotels and restaurants have
launched many kinds of high-end moon
cakes. Sofitel Plaza’s boxes are priced
high and come with a hand crafted
24K gold plated dragon sculpture (VND
6.5million) or a golden carp gift box
(VND3.5million). The luxurious moon-
cakes of the Hilton Opera Hotel Hanoi
range from VND2.2 to 3.8 million per
box, while those of the Daewoo Hanoi
run from VND 1.5 to 1.9 million. The
highest price this year is at the Hanoi
Hotel, which offers a set of cakes with
wine valued at up to VND12 million.
Unlike modern mooncakes with
their various fillings and diverse looks,
traditional moon cakes have a simple
and plain design and a uniform flavor.
Old, ancestral shops are also draw-
ing lots of traffic these days. Shops like
Bao Phuong on Thuy Khue street, Ninh
Huong on Hang Dieu street, and Ba
Dan on Hang Be street have been do-
ing brisk trade. Each year, from about
20 days before the festival people have
to stand in two 30 metre queues to
wait for their turn to buy moon cakes
at such outlets.
“For me and my family, traditional
moon cakes are indispensable even
though there are many kinds like the
Cantonese mooncakes or Hong Kong
varieties,” said Tran Thu Ha, a 27 year
old woman living in Hanoi. Ha and
her husband had to queue up to buy
cakes last year. “My grandparents and
whole family love this taste, so both of
us had to queue to buy enough cakes
for the family because the shop sells
only two packages of 8 cakes to each
person. If you need more, you have to
queue up again.”
A NEW SPIN ON TRADITION
Although people still feel affection
for traditional mooncakes, this year has
seen more strange new varieties than
ever. Nguyen Ngoc Anh, a student at
University of Agriculture welcomes the
new cakes: “I am not keen on traditional
mooncakes which are usually so sweet
and fatty. But this year is wonderful be-
cause I have bought some very strange
kinds of cake with chocolate filling.”
This year these new takes on old
classics can be found at a traditional,
hand crafted shop on Thuy Khue street.
Ninh Huong shop will also be selling
new cakes with taro or chocolate filling
at the customer’ request.
Moon cakes with fruit fillings, tiny
colourful mochi mooncakes or moon-
cakes with agar crusts filled with jam
are all on offer.
Pham Duc Khoi, a third year stu-
dent at Hanoi University of Business
and Technology chose specially shaped
moon cakes for his girlfriend: “There are
so many choices for cake shapes this
year, from cartoon and comic charac-
ters to animals.”
Khoi was also excited to discover
a nutritious mooncake to give to his
parents: “This kind of Bibica cake has
a low blood glucose index and half the
calories of a traditional moon cake, so
they are perfect for my parents.”
Dai Phat Bakery used a Japanese
natural sugar, trehalose, to make their
products healthier and less fatty and
sweet.
Vu Bao Linh focuses on hygiene
and safety: “My cakes contain no pre-
servatives so you had better eat them
within seven days. Most of my cus-
tomers buy to eat, to offer at the altar
or to present them to their nieces
because I have many kinds of funny
moulds such as little pigs, bears, rab-
bits or herds of tiny pigs being breast-
fed by their mother.” Despite being
priced higher than most cakes on the
market, her cakes have been selling
well: “My customers are mostly Face-
book friends, neighbours and class-
mates,” she said.