Mooncakes at Shanghai Terrace

(photos and video by Kristine Sherred)

The annual Autumn Moon Festival is coming in Chinatown, but rather than purchase pre-made mooncakes from a local bakery on Wentworth Ave. or in the Chinatown Square Mall, the chefs at Shanghai Terrace, inside The Peninsula Hotel, have decided they’ll start making their own. Granted, the filling isn’t traditional lotus paste or red bean, but rather, a more approachable egg custard. Still, they make each one by hand, in specially-made wooden molds from China. The recipe is purely Hong Kong, and they’re only available for about a month, until September 15. You have to pick them up at the hotel, since they are too perishable and fragile to ship. Boxes of four will run you $40; they’re $8 a pop at the restaurant. 

Shanghai Terrace at The Peninsula
108 E. Superior St.
312-573-6744