Our junior reporters have made choosing mooncakes to help celebrate this year's Mid-Autumn Festival much easier.
(From left) Young Post junior reporters Henry Lui, Leanne Cheng, Doris Lam and Michael Law with their mooncakes.From traditional types on shelves to fruit-filled, snow-white creations kept in the fridge, choosing the mooncake that suits you can be difficult ...
Yet, fear not! We asked four junior reporters to each sample a different mooncake and provide a critique to save you the headache - and maybe indigestion - from having to do research yourself.
Lily and Green-Bean Paste
(Wo Kee Lung Bakery, HK$25 each)
At first glance, no one would think this is a mooncake. Wo Kee Lung's lily and green-bean paste mooncake has golden crispy layers, which are stacked on top of one another into a bun shape.
Traditional mooncakes usually have a thick brownish crust, but this one is nothing like that. The thin-cut crust cracks open the second you bite into it. It's a bit oily, but could have been better if it had been fresh out of an oven. It's too bad that it came only in packs. Eating the crust left me with a bloated feeling.
On the other hand, the paste is deliciously sweet. The green bean and lily flavour complement each other well, to create a thick, tasty paste.
The mixture takes up about two thirds of the mooncake, so it is likely to be a bit too sweet if you eat it all at once. Yet the good thing is you can share it with your family and friends!
Doris Lam
Chinese Ham Assorted Nuts Mooncake
(Saint Honore Cake Shop, HK$205 for box of four)
A secret recipe hiding in a chunky traditional mooncake, the Chinese Ham Assorted Nuts Mooncake, made by Saint Honore Cake Shop, tastes better than it looks.
This delicious mooncake contains five different types of nuts, along with salty ham prepared in an Oriental way.
The crust is similar to those of classic mooncakes, and has a tasty, salty flavour, while the soft-paste filling contains a mix of pleasantly sweet ingredients.
Four of these monstrous-sized mooncakes come in a tin box. They are, without doubt, scrumptious, beautifully designed products.
Each mooncake comes in gold-coloured packaging, which is covered in elegant, ancient-style maroon-coloured Chinese characters. They are perfect for celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is one of China's most prominent festivals.
Michael Law
Custard Mooncake with Minced Egg Yolk
(Wing Wah, HK$160 for box of six)
Wing Wah is one of the most popular makers of mooncakes in Hong Kong, with many new types on offer. The one I tried was the custard mooncake with minced egg yolk.
The creative packaging certainly has an eye-catching design. It comes in a cardboard box decorated with the silhouettes of white rabbits and a silver logo near the bottom. If you unwrap this, you come to a purple tin box, adorned with intricate designs and patterns of stars and rabbits.
The sweet, runny, custard-flavoured filling is locked in a buttery, cookie-like pastry. Normally, I dislike the yolks because of their uniquely mushy texture. But the yolk in this mooncake is mashed and mixed into the yummy filling, adding a delicious creaminess to the already-soft filling inside.
Leanne Cheng
Supreme Mooncake
(Kee Wah Bakery, HK$82/ for box of four)
The Kee Wah Supreme mooncake lives up not only to its name, but - I believe - sets the golden standard for traditional Chinese mooncakes.
It comes in attractive packaging, with bronze-coloured Chinese characters and patterns, which add a real festive feeling. Yet the packaging has a downside. It's quite a challenge getting through the different layers to reach the mooncake. But it certainly helps to protect the mooncakes from the harmful damp, moist weather.
The mooncake's patterned, brown top looks just like a pastry made during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). I normally dislike traditional mooncake egg yolks, but this was quite pleasant; the bitter-sweet taste really complements the lotus and peanut oil flavours.
Henry Lui