'MOONCAKE WITH DATES' TO BE INTRODUCED FOR LANTERN FESTIVAL AND HARI RAYA IDUL

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 22 (Bernama) -- Mooncake fillings which traditionally
contain paste from lotus seeds, beans or egg yolk, broke away from tradition
with the introduction of mooncakes with paste from dates to inject an innovative
idea to encourage use of the Chinese pastry for the lantern festival and Hari
Raya Idul Fitri.

Kong Tong Wah, a local mooncake producer who has a confectionery in Kampong
Attap here, said he came up with the idea to encourage other races, especially
the Malays, to enjoy mooncakes during festivals.

He added that it was also in conjunction with the concept of the 1Malaysia
initiative from Prime Minister Mohd Najib Tun Razak.

"We live in a multi-racial country and need to share the culture and
tradition. I believe using paste from dates will encourage our Muslim friends to
accept mooncakes as another delicacy," he told Bernama.

Kong said most of the mooncakes available in the market were halal.

"Confectioneries nowadays use vegetable oil instead of animal fat and most
of them have replaced ham paste with chicken paste," he said.

Since Muslims break fast with dates, mooncakes with paste from dates can
become an alternative for such purposes, he said.

He added that his confectionery had already introduced mooncakes with paste
from dates and received good response from the public.

"I have not started it a large commercial scale production. So far, I have
introduced it to friends and my customers," he said.

Kong who is 70-years-old now had started making mooncakes since he was 12,
and every year, tries to make something new and two of his innovations had been
entered in the Guinness Book of Records for being the biggest and highest
mooncakes.

He had also used other local ingredients to make mooncakes to give a local
touch, with the use of durian, tapioca, cempedak and other local fruits and his
creations have drawn customers from as far as Hong Kong.

-- BERNAMA