Under the Autumn Moon: The Mid-Autumn Festival and a Modern Tofu Daifuku
Under the Autumn Moon: The Mid-Autumn Festival and a Modern Tofu Daifuku
The full moon has long represented completeness, reunion, and connection.
For thousands of years, families across East Asia have gathered on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month to admire the harvest moon, share food, and give thanks for what the year has grown.
In China, this celebration is known as the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节). In Japan, we have the tradition of Tsukimi (月見), "moon viewing." In Korea, it is Chuseok (추석). Different names, different foods, different customs, but the same instinct to gather beneath the same moon.
Why the Autumn Moon Matters
From the perspective of Chinese Medicine, the timing of this festival is deeply meaningful.
Autumn marks the movement from the expansive Yang energy of summer toward the quieter Yin seasons of the year. Nature begins to contract and gather inward. Plants turn their energy toward seeds and roots. Animals prepare for the colder months. And our own bodies begin making the same seasonal transition.
Perhaps this is why sitting quietly beneath the autumn moon feels so appropriate. It is a small opportunity to stop expanding outward and simply gather ourselves back in.
The moon itself has always been associated with Yin energy in Chinese philosophy, cooling, reflective, receptive, nourishing. When we sit beneath it in silence, we are participating in something older than any of us: a quiet remembering that we are part of the natural cycles, not separate from them.
Summer taught us to bloom outward. The autumn moon teaches us to gather back in.
The Foods of the Festival
Every Mid-Autumn tradition has its foods.
In China, mooncakes (月饼) are the classic offering dense, round pastries filled with lotus seed paste, sweet bean paste, or salted egg yolk (representing the moon itself). They are shared among family members and given as gifts to friends, neighbours, and colleagues.
In Japan, tsukimi dango, small round rice dumplings, stacked into a pyramid on a tray are offered to the moon along with autumn grasses (susuki) and seasonal produce. My family always made these when I was growing up. There is something quietly grounding about arranging fifteen small white dumplings on a plate and setting them by an open window.
In Korea, songpyeon, half-moon-shaped rice cakes filled with sesame, chestnut, or bean paste are the traditional treat, often steamed over pine needles for fragrance.
What they all share is a round shape that echoes the moon, and a use of grains, beans, and seeds, the very foods that represent autumn's harvest and the beginning of the body's turn inward. Roots. Seeds. Grains. Beans. Things that store well. Things that carry the memory of summer into the cold months ahead.
Every one of these foods is, in a sense, a small act of preservation. A way of holding onto sunlight.
A Modern Twist: Tofu Rice Mochi Daifuku
Traditional daifuku is made with glutinous rice or glutinous rice flour. This version adds tofu to the mochi dough for a modern, more nutritionally balanced twist.
It is not the traditional way of making daifuku, but it brings together two beloved Japanese ingredients into a treat that is soft, satisfying, and gentler on the body than mochi made from rice flour alone.
Before the recipe, a few words on why this pairing works so beautifully, both nutritionally and from a Chinese Medicine perspective.
Glutinous Rice Flour (もち粉 / 糯米粉)
Western nutrition:
Glutinous rice flour is mainly carbohydrate, providing quick energy and is naturally gluten-free despite the misleading name. It is very low in fat, relatively low in protein and fibre, and provides small amounts of magnesium, phosphorus, and other minerals. It can raise blood glucose fairly quickly when eaten alone, which is why pairing it with tofu, beans, nuts, or seeds creates a more balanced food.
Chinese Medicine view:
Glutinous rice (糯米, nuò mǐ) is considered sweet and warm, entering primarily the Spleen and Stomach. Traditionally, it is said to tonify Qi, strengthen the Spleen, and warm the middle. However, because it is very sticky and dense, eating too much may be difficult to digest and can contribute to food stagnation, fullness, or Dampness, particularly in people with weak digestion.
Tofu (豆腐)
Western nutrition:
Tofu is a good source of plant-based protein containing all nine essential amino acids. It is generally low in saturated fat and provides iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and other minerals. Calcium-set tofu can be an excellent source of calcium. It also contains naturally occurring soy isoflavones, which have been studied particularly in relation to heart, bone, and menopausal health.
Chinese Medicine view:
Tofu is generally considered sweet and cooling. Traditionally, it is used to clear Heat, generate fluids, and moisten dryness. Because of its cooling and moist nature, large amounts may not suit someone with very weak or cold digestion, and may contribute to bloating or loose stools.
Why Pair Them?
Tofu plus glutinous rice is a genuinely interesting pairing from both perspectives.
Nutritionally, tofu adds the protein, minerals, and isoflavones that plain mochi lacks. Energetically, tofu's cooling, moistening quality moderates the warm density of glutinous rice, while the rice's warming, tonifying nature groundsthe coolness of the tofu.
This is one of the loveliest examples of a Chinese Medicine principle: by preparing and combining foods thoughtfully, we can shift how they interact with the body. A food that might be too warming alone can be tempered. A food that might be too cooling alone can be warmed. Balance emerges through the pairing itself.
Tofu Rice Mochi Moon Cake Recipe
Makes about 8–10 small daifuku.
Ingredients
150 g silken or soft tofu
120 g glutinous rice flour (もち粉 / 糯米粉)
Pinch of salt
1–2 tbsp water, if needed
Potato starch or cornstarch, for dusting
Homemade Adzuki & Date Anko, for filling
No added sugar is needed in the mochi dough when using the naturally sweet adzuki-date anko.
Method
Make the dough. Blend the tofu, glutinous rice flour, and salt in a blender until completely smooth. If the mixture seems very thick or dry, add a little water, 1 teaspoon at a time.
Microwave. Transfer the mixture to a microwave-safe bowl and cover loosely. Microwave until the dough begins to thicken.
Stir and cook again. Stir thoroughly with a wet spatula, then microwave again in short intervals, stirring between each one. Because microwave wattages vary, it is better to watch the texture rather than rely on an exact cooking time.
Look for the mochi transformation. The dough is ready when it becomes glossy, slightly translucent, and stretchy rather than looking like a white flour batter. If it is slimy but breaks apart when stretched, microwave for another 10–15 seconds, stir well, and repeat if necessary.
Shape the mochi. Generously dust your work surface with potato starch or cornstarch. Transfer the hot mochi onto the surface and allow it to cool just enough to handle.
Fill the daifuku. Divide into 8–10 pieces. Gently flatten each piece, place a spoonful of adzuki-date anko in the centre, then bring the edges together and pinch closed.
Finish. Lightly dust with starch, or roll the finished daifuku in kinako (roasted soybean powder) for an extra nutty flavour and additional nutrition.
A Little Nutritional Upgrade
Glutinous rice flour provides the characteristic chewy texture and is naturally gluten-free, but it is primarily a carbohydrate. Adding tofu gives the mochi plant protein, essential amino acids, iron, magnesium, and soy isoflavones, making this little Japanese treat more nutritionally balanced than mochi made from rice flour alone.
Combined with our adzuki-and-date anko, you get a satisfying little sweet made from rice, soybeans, adzuki beans, and fruit, with no need for a large amount of refined sugar.
A Small Ritual for the Autumn Moon
If you would like to observe the Mid-Autumn Festival in your own quiet way, you don't need much.
Set a small plate of daifuku (or any round fruit like apples, pears, persimmons work beautifully). Find a window with a view of the moon, or step outside. Sit for a few minutes. Notice what you're grateful for from this year's harvest, literal or otherwise. Notice what you're ready to gather back in from the summer's expansion.
That's the whole festival. Everything else is decoration.
The moon has been doing this for millions of years. Sitting beneath it for ten quiet minutes is a very small way of saying: I noticed. I'm here. Thank you.
A Gentle Invitation
If your body is asking for support as we settle into autumn, I would be honoured to help.
Or feel free to text 519-781-6957 or email info@trilliumchinesemedicine.com with any questions.
May your autumn be gentle. May your moon be bright. And may you find good company beneath it.