SUBANG, Oct 4 — Chong Sew Siang has been baking goods of all kinds for over 20 years, but it is mooncakes that have a special place in her heart.
The 50-year-old housewife started baking mooncakes as giveaways for friends and family but demand for them grew to a point when she decided to start selling the traditional treats.
“I used to make a few dozen during the Mid-Autumn Festival, just a few kinds of each flavour to give away.
“But people started to offer to buy them and now I make and sell about 800 mooncakes of all kinds each season. I hardly have any left over, they all are snapped up,” she said as she sealed the last batch in her kitchen at her home here.
Chong has refrained from “going big” but instead maintained her style of hand-making each mooncake.
However, due to the volume she produces, Chong purchases commercial fillings for some of the 19 different mooncakes she has on offer besides traditional biscuits and pineapple tarts.
“I used to buy lotus seeds and other items to make the filling, but I quickly found this to be impractical.
“If it is for a few dozen that is fine but for closer to a thousand pieces, it is reasonable to purchase the filling,” she said, adding she only sourced the items from trusted suppliers who use fresh and quality ingredients.
Chong typically starts making mooncakes in the seventh month of the Chinese calendar, and delivers the last batch just before the festival.
A master of her craft, Chong can turn out 18 to 20 mooncakes in three hours, or as many “jelly” or snow skin varieties in just over an hour, which she started producing five years ago.
“The baked ones require more steps and skill to produce, but they are definitely the more satisfying type to make.
“From preparing the skin to baking it just right, it is far more challenging than simply preparing jelly mooncakes that simply set in the fridge.”
Chong turns out traditional (baked) and Shanghai (flaky) skin mooncakes with a set of five big wooden moulds and six smaller ones purchased from China 20 years ago, but uses a set of plastic moulds for the jelly and snow skin variety.
Chong’s mooncakes range in price from RM30 to RM50 for a set of four, and they provide her with a healthy profit.
“But what I really enjoy is making the mooncakes. If I can make a little profit on the side while I’m at it, why not?”
