Shang palace at Shangri-La Hotel – Unique Mooncake Pairings For This Mid-Autumn Festival

31 August 2017 Gwendolyn

Mid-Autumn Festival will always be a huge celebration I look forward to; indulging in mooncakes that only make their appearance once during this time period. Every year, mooncakes evolve to having various kinds of exotic flavours and combination as their fillings, be it the snow skin or traditional baked skin. Mooncake lovers will be in for a feast. Never a boring Mid-Autumn festival, and this year is going to be a new experience too.

I am glad to finally try the limited edition mooncakes from Shang Palace at Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore, during an exclusive mooncake and drink pairings session. Imagine pairing the different types of mooncakes with tea, cocktails, beer and sake, wouldn’t it make a rather insightful and interesting experience? And Shangri-La Hotel has got it nailed for us!

For the mooncake and drink pairings, we will be tasting the mooncakes which will be available for sale as well:

Shang Palace Mini Snow Skin Eight Treasures ($88) *NEW

Yuzu Bird’s Nest (4 pcs)
Chocolate Salted Toffee (4 pcs)

Shang Palace Four Treasures ($78)

Low Sugar White Lotus Seed Paste with Double Yolks
Low Sugar White Lotus Seed Paste with Single Yolk
Low Sugar Plain White Lotus Seed Paste
Mixed Nuts with Chicken Sausage Ham

Shang Palace Mini Eight Treasures ($88) *NEW

Low Sugar White Lotus Seed Paste with Quarter Yolk (4 pcs)
Red Bean with Almond (4 pcs)

Monogram Tea by Gryphon Tea Company

Starting off with the lightest drink of the day, the Monogram Tea serves as a good palate opener and allows the flavour of the mooncakes to shine alongside the teas.

I love the combination as I nibble on the Chocolate Salted Toffee Snow Skin Mooncake while taking in small sips of the Jasmine Silk Pearls blend with Rose of Ariana.

The floral, light-bodied tea evens out the sweetness of the snow skin mooncake perfectly, actually making you feel more guilt-free having two or more pieces!

Local Crafted Cocktails Pairing by Shangri-La Hotel

There’s no stopping me from getting high over the crafted cocktails specially concocted by the bartender behind Shangri-La Hotel.

Probably one of my favourite pairing station here, since I love cocktails, and it is amazing that the complex flavours of a cocktail can go well with the mooncake. If you are wondering whether the cocktail will overwhelm the mooncake taste, it really depends on which mooncake you are pairing with.

The Yuzu Bird’s Nest Snow Skin Mooncake has a citrusy yuzu filling and premium bird’s nest at its core. It pairs with the Diversity, a strong cocktail with Spiced Gin, Ginger Liqueur, Lemon Juice, Honey, Rosemary and Orange Peel. The ‘clash’ of sweet and sourness from both sides somehow marries and results in a salted finishing. It is intriguing.

Archipelago Brewery Singlish Craft Beer Pairings

I wouldn’t have expected beer to go with mooncakes given that the former is usually drank with heavy food like your fried chicken wings, pizzas and chips.

Instead, what I realise is that the beer has this acidity and bitterness that cuts through the sweetness of the mooncake. In fact, I find the beers having just the right kind of alcohol level to keep you drinking and still sober, while you continue eating the mooncake without feeling too jelat.

Even more creatively, the craft beers are labeled with the Singlish words like Sibeh Ho, Ah Kah Ji, Tok Gong and Ki Siao. I am sure drinking all these will make you feel Sibeh Ho (very good!).

Saito Sake Pairing

Sake can be easily paired with many cuisines in the world. The Saito sake has a clean and crisp finishing which still allows you to savour the mooncake close to its originality.

Try pairing with the Dry Sake, Junmai Sake and Junmai Daiginjo Sake from the lightest to the heaviest in taste and see the differences.

I have the dry sake which seeps seamlessly through the Mixed Nuts with Chicken Sausage Ham baked skin mooncake. White chewing on the nuts and waxed sausage bits, I could still get the taste of the sake lingering upon my tongue.