China News Service, Hangzhou, September 26 (Zhang Yuhuan) During this Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, the mooncake market has quietly ushered in an iteration of taste and health concepts. In addition to the familiar traditional Cantonese-style and Soviet-style mooncakes, a number of medicated mooncakes developed by medical institutions continue to appear in the market, and seasonal snacks produced by many hospitals have become hot topics on social platforms.
As the concept of the same origin of medicine and food is kneaded into the cake filling, a small mooncake reflects the new consumption trend of light health care among the public, and also opens up new imagination space for the daily life-oriented traditional Chinese medicine and the innovation of the big health industry.
Last year, the Five Elements Medicinal Mooncakes developed by the Tang Junming Traditional Chinese Medicine Studio of the Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine became popular on social platforms. Netizens once said: "I didn't expect that the best product in the Mid-Autumn Festival would be produced by the hospital."
The reporter visited and learned that the popularity of this "Internet celebrity mooncake" has been upgraded this year, and it has been iterated into the Five Elements Herbal Mooncake. The formula, ingredients, and packaging have been completely refreshed. Herbal flavors such as raspberry, jujube kernel, Codonopsis pilosula, and lily are packed into a delicate snack, giving traditional food a lighter and more contemporary way of appearing.
"Unlike the mooncakes on the market that rely on artificial pigments for coloring, our team put ingenuity into the color of the crust." A relevant person in charge of the Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine said that the cyan color of the mooncake comes from celery powder, the red color comes from cactus powder, the earthy yellow color comes from pumpkin powder, the original rice fragrance makes up the golden crust, and the black sesame powder brings out the black color. The five colors of green, red, yellow, white, and black correspond to the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water, echoing the health-preserving concept of traditional Chinese medicine that the five elements correspond to the five internal organs.
When the reporter cut into the mooncake, he found that the crust and filling were clearly layered, and the rice flour crust lost the heavy feel of the traditional Cantonese oil crust. Many netizens commented that the cake crust has a rich rice aroma and is refreshing and not greasy in the mouth, with only a light herbal fragrance.
In addition to the Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the mooncakes produced by many medical institutions all focus on the word "prime". The reporter observed that these mooncakes have natural and pure ingredients with few additives. They focus on healthy eating with light oil and light sugar. They are especially suitable for the elderly, children and people who pay attention to health management.
Pan'an County Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital follows the concept of medicine and food coming from the same source, upgraded the formula of special mooncakes, and launched health-preserving mooncakes, including mulberry leaves and mung beans, red dates and longan, osmanthus and poria, yam and lily, and polygonatum five black. They are made with mulberry leaves, red dates, poria, lilies, polygonatum and other raw materials. The hospital also launched a tangerine peel and laurel drink, which is prepared with hawthorn, black plum, tangerine peel, licorice, osmanthus, etc. It mainly produces body fluids and relieves fatigue, and is suitable for consumption with mooncakes.
At the same time, many medical institutions are also exploring innovative expressions in the appearance of mooncakes. Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital has launched medicated rice mooncakes with soft tones and delicate embossed patterns. The simple gift box has the elegance of Chinese refreshments. The old mooncakes retain the familiar festive flavor, while the new ones are eye-catching with their healthy and ingenious ideas.
Medicinal mooncakes continue to become popular. Behind this is the change in the dietary concepts of a generation. In the past, health care was often associated with bitter decoctions and tedious preparations. Today, young people are pursuing light health care, which is integrated into daily life, has a low threshold and has a sense of ritual. The elements of traditional Chinese medicine are no longer limited to clinics and pharmacies, but have been transformed into daily foods such as moon cakes and pastries. They have entered public life with gentler and more delicious carriers, integrating medicine into food.
From the perspective of the industry, the entry of hospitals into the field of medicated snacks is not a simple cross-border "making Internet celebrity food", but a medical institution that keenly captures the public health needs and transforms the theory of traditional Chinese medicine to prevent disease and medicine and food from the same source into products.
Mooncakes are just a starting point. According to reports, in addition to the Five Elements Materia Medica vegetarian mooncakes, the team of the Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine also plans to continue to develop a series of medicated pastries to extend the concept of nutritional nourishment to more daily snack scenes. Creativity in the big health industry is constantly emerging, and traditional Chinese medicine culture has also completed a silent popularization of science through food.
Under the craze, rational cognition is equally important. Medical institutions have reminded many times that medicated mooncakes are foods of the same origin as medicine and food. Although they add a variety of health-preserving ingredients, they cannot replace medicines. Citizens should eat according to their own physical constitution, taste the appropriate amount, and rationally feel the flavor of Mid-Autumn Festival food.
A piece of medicated mooncake is connected to the folk tradition of Mid-Autumn Festival reunion and the Chinese people's yearning for a healthy life. When the ancient wisdom of medicine and food meets the contemporary lifestyle of light health care, the culture of traditional Chinese medicine is integrating into the daily life of ordinary people in a way that can be tasted, felt, and shared. Innovation in the big health industry is also rooted in ordinary people's long-term pursuit of a better life and healthy diet.
