Halal Mooncake - Features, Fillings, Recipe

Halal mooncake is the mooncake made and eaten by ethnic minorities such as the Hui people who are Muslims in China. It is a kind of halal food meeting the Islamic food standards of slaughtering, processing and production. There are a variety of Muslim mooncakes in China, such as Ningxia-style halal mooncakes, Chaoshan-style sweetheart cakes and vegan mooncakes.
 

Generally, the beef tallow is used in halal mooncakes instead of lard. As long as meat is used, it should be beef, no pork absolutely. Also, no materials including blood of animals, the meat of cats, dogs and frogs, the meat that doesn’t meet the halal standard, such as the meat of animals that died before slaughtering and that is slaughtered by non-Muslim should be used to make Muslim mooncakes. However, the food from seas can be used.
 

The usual fillings of halal mooncakes are similar to common mooncakes, such as five nuts, bean paste, lotus seed paste, jujube paste, and fruits, but the meat must be beef.
 

Halal mooncakes are common pastries for Muslims, and they are sold and eaten by Muslims in China all year round. You can buy some in the halal shops whenever you want to eat, no matter it is during Mid-Autumn Festival or not.
 

This recipe is to make 18 Halal beef mooncakes, each measuring about 60g. If you want to make more, just add more materials in proportion.
 

For water oil crust: 204g of whole wheat flour, 21g of fine sugar, 96g of water, 54g of vegetable oil
For oil crust: 180g of whole wheat flour, 90g of vegetable oil
For fillings: 500g of minced beef, 5g of pepper powder, 15ml of soy sauce, 5g of salt, 10ml of sesame oil, one quail egg, 10g of chopped scallions
 

1. Add some pepper powder to the minced beef and mix well, then add a small amount of water gradually till it becomes viscous.
2. Add a little soy sauce and salt, whip it, then add quail egg and beat evenly. Sprinkle a little scallions and mix well, divide it into round balls, each 30g. Put them in the refrigerator for an hour.
 

Mix all the materials prepared for the water oil crust and knead thoroughly till the transparent film can be pulled out, then place it in a fresh-keeping bag for 30 minutes. After, divide it into smaller doughs per 20g, and relax them for 10 minutes.
 

Knead the materials of oil crust into a dough and place it in a fresh-keeping bag for 30 minutes. Then divide it into 15-g-heavy doughs.
 

1. Flat a water oil crust dough, wrap in an oil crust dough and pinch the mouth. Then repeat the step and complete the rest of doughs.
2. Pat the doughs flat with a rolling pin, roll them up one after another. Cover them with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and relax them for 15 minutes.
3. Flat the dough rolls upside down with a rolling pin, and roll them up again. Relax for 20 minutes, and pay attention to keep the moisture.
 

Pinch the dough rolls from two sides to the middle, flat them with a rolling pin to make big, thin and round wrappers.
 

Put a beef filling ball into a wrapper and pinch the mouth of the wrapper. You can get rid of the extra dough of the mouth. Turn it over and press it slightly to be flattened. Use chopstick to mark a few points on it with red edible pigment. Make the rest as this step.
 

Bake them in the oven for about 15 minutes with 170-180°C (340-360°F) heat, turn them over and bake for about 8 minutes, and then turn over and bake for 8 minutes again.

Now, the halal beef mooncakes are done. The crust is crispy and layered. The filling is delicious, oil but not greasy.

Further Reading
Traditional Mooncakes in China - 12 Types of Regional Variations

10 Best Mooncakes in China - Have you ever tried?

10 Most Popular Mooncake Flavors - Which one do you like?

Snow Skin Mooncake – Non-Baked Mooncake

Jelly Mooncake - How to Make Colorful and Crystal Mooncakes

3,000 Years’ Timeline of Mooncake History, from its Origin 'Taishi Cake'