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The first time I ever made moon cakes I dove into the “real thing” — that is, traditional moon cakes. Traditional moon cakes feature a pastry wrapper that has to be carefully baked, and then rested for 2-3 days. It’s a long, unforgiving process. My first batch turned out okay but not great, and even though I was proud of the outcome I probably should have just started out with snow skin mooncakes.
Snow skin moon cakes are the contemporary cousin of traditional moon cakes and are much easier to pull off. They’re also very gratifying because they can and should be eaten right away. This makes them a great centerpiece for moon cake making with friends or young family members. In fact, my friend Erika and I have almost entirely moved away from traditional moon cake making at our workshops here in LA because snow skin moon cakes are just so much more fun for people to make together.
This specific recipe features a pandan mung bean filling with hints of coconut flavor thanks to the coconut oil. I’m a huge fan of mung bean — so much so that I made a whole video series featuring mung bean desserts — so this is in my top 3 favorite flavors. Mung bean’s earthiness also pairs incredibly well with the fragrant, vanilla-like flavor of pandan — a flavor combination you’re probably familiar with if you grew up around any Vietnamese or southeast Asian desserts.
Special Ingredients
- Peeled, split mung beans — This is one of my favorite Asian dessert ingredients (so much so that I actually did a whole video series on mung bean recipes). Make sure you buy the yellow ones and not green — yellow mung beans have been peeled and split, while green still have their shells. These can be found at Chinese, Korean, and Indian markets (where they’re called moong daal), but are less common at Japanese markets. I prefer buying mine at the Korean market when I can because the Korean brands typically avoid using yellow dye for coloring. This dye, which is found in far more Chinese brands, mostly washes off when you soak and rinse the beans, but if you can avoid it, then why not? You can also buy split, peeled mung beans here.
- Pandan extract — Pandan extract can be found at many Chinese and Southeast Asian markets. It should be used sparingly, as its flavor and color both pack a punch. You can also find pandan extract online if you don’t have any stores that carry it nearby.
- Glutinous rice flour — Glutinous rice flour, also called “sweet rice flour,” is very different than regular rice flour. It’s the ingredient that’s responsible for the chewy texture of mochi (though traditional mochi is made from pounded glutinous rice, not the flour preparation). It cannot be swapped with regular rice flour and the only decent substitute I could think of would be tapioca flour — but I haven’t personally done any testing with this swap so I wouldn’t recommend it. Glutinous rice flour can be found at most East, Southeast, and South Asian grocers. You can also find it online — this is the brand I buy.
- Potato starch — Potato starch is the white powder you’ll find on the outside of many mochi confections and I haven’t found any good substitutions that won’t lend a strange mouth feel. Potato starch can be tricky to find, but if you get lucky you can get it at natural foods stores, or at Japanese or Chinese markets. You can also find it online in a pinch.
Don’t be intimidated by the long prep time of this recipe — most of that time is spent waiting for your mung beans to soak overnight and couldn’t be easier. If you have a food processor, you don’t really have an excuse to not try making this recipe. Good luck and have fun!
Pandan Mung Bean Snow Skin Mooncakes
Servings: 20 servings
Snow skin moon cakes are the contemporary cousin to traditional moon cakes. Instead of a pastry wrapper, they feature a mochi-like exterior that doesn't require any baking and waiting. The filling combination of mung bean and pandan pair incredibly well together and create a warm, coconutty, tropical flavor that transport me back to my childhood.
Print Recipe
Equipment
- 1 small moon cake mold 50g capacity, see notes
- 1 food processor
- 1 steamer
Ingredients
Pandan Mung Bean Filling
- 150 g peeled, split mung beans see notes
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 25 g glutinous rice flour see notes
- 50 g coconut oil unrefined, see notes
- pinch salt
- 1/4 tsp pandan extract
Snow Skin Wrapper
- 80 g glutinous rice flour
- 80 g rice flour
- 40 g corn starch
- 40 g granulated sugar
- 300 g milk
- 30 g coconut oil
Assembly
- potato starch for dusting
Instructions
Make the Filling
- The night before making your mooncakes, rinse your mung beans and cover with several inches of water (they'll absorb more water than you think!). Allow to soak overnight. If you're in a rush, this process can be sped up by soaking the mung beans in hot water for a couple hours.150 g peeled, split mung beans
- The next day, drain the mung beans and line a steaming basket with baking parchment (it will extend up the sides and over the top of the steamer, but this isn't a problem). Pour the soaked mung beans onto the parchment and spread them out in an even layer. Steam over medium heat for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, check the consistency of the mung beans — if they're very soft/mushy and crumble with very little force between two fingers, they're ready. If not, continue to steam for another 10 minutes and check the consistency again. Repeat until soft, then let cool a bit.
- Place the warm or room temp mung beans in a food processor with the remaining ingredients. Start the processor — the mixture will be quite thick to begin with. Gradually add in a tablespoon of water at a time, waiting at least a few seconds after each addition before adding more, until the mung bean mixture just loosens up enough so it's not balled up around the blade of the food processor — it shouldn't be liquidy, but it should move freely around the blade. Continue to process for a few more minutes until very smooth, then transfer to a nonstick pan.100 g granulated sugar, 25 g glutinous rice flour, 50 g coconut oil, 1/4 tsp pandan extract, pinch salt
- Heat the mixture over medium low heat, mixing and folding constantly with a heatproof spatula so the paste doesn't take on any color — the goal here is to heat off any excess water moisture in the paste, and to cook the glutinous rice flour a bit. You'll notice the paste start to come together as a cohesive mass. After it comes together, continue to cook for 5-10 more minutes to really ensure you've cooked off as much moisture as possible. This entire process can take anywhere between 15 and 25 minutes.
- Transfer the paste to a dish, cover it with plastic wrap or a damp towel, and cool to room temperature. While that's cooling, work on your snowskin.
Make the Wrapper Dough
- If your coconut oil is very firm/solid, melt it it in the microwave until JUST melted (you don't want it to be hot). Mix all the ingredients in a medium sized microwave-proof bowl until no lumps remain.80 g glutinous rice flour, 80 g rice flour, 40 g corn starch, 40 g granulated sugar, 300 g milk, 30 g coconut oil
- Cover the bowl with a damp paper towel and microwave for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, check to see if the mixture is mostly solid (though it should still be soft!) with no liquid pooling. If not, keep microwaving on 30 second bursts until the mixture looks mostly congealed. Carefully remove from the microwave and let cool until warm enough to handle.
- At this point you can dye your snowskin if you'd like — food coloring works, or you can try natural dyes and flavorings like matcha, beetroot powder, butterfly pea powder, charcoal powder, turmeric, and more.
Assembly
- Prepare your workspace: measure out portions of the filling into 23-26 grams (you're targeting about 25 grams but it doesn't need to be exact). Place these portions on a plate or baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap as you're working to avoid the mixture drying out too much.
- Working quickly, measure 25-30g of snowskin mixture and knead until smooth. Work into a rough circle shape, about the size of a dumpling wrapper (or about 2.5 inches in diameter). No need to be perfect here — the main thing is to avoid tearing any holes in the dough, and you also want to try to make the edges slightly thinner than the center of the wrapper.
- Take a piece of filling and work it in your hands a bit to remove any potential air pockets (if you've ever done ceramics, think of this like "wedging" your filling). Roll the filling into a very neat ball. Place the ball in the center of your flattened snowskin and wrap the snowskin around completely, pinching the edges together to join them and ensure no filling leaks out. Once all the filling is completely enclosed, roll the ball between your palms until smooth and round. Dust with a light sprinkling of potato starch and roll again. Press with a plastic mooncake mold (a wooden mold won't work here).
- These are best eaten immediately/day-of, but can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days. Let them sit out on your counter for at least 30 minutes to allow them time to soften and warm up a bit after removing from the fridge.
Notes
- Split peeled mung beans can be found at most Chinese, Indian, and Korean markets, but are less common at Japanese grocers. Don't confuse them with their unpeeled cousins — the kind you're looking for should have a yellow hue, not green.
- Glutinous rice flour is distinct from standard rice flour (which is also an ingredient in this recipe) and the two cannot be swapped. Glutinous rice flour is what gives mochi its distinctive chew, and without it, you won't achieve the right texture.
- Virgin or unrefined coconut oil will give this recipe a coconut undertone — a flavor combination which I personally love. If, however, you're not a big fan of coconut flavor, you can swap unrefined coconut oil for refined, which carries much less flavor.