Moon festival, Cabramatta

It was a weekend filled with food.

My weekend started with a Friday night gluttony of two-hour all-you-can-eat yakiniku at Suminoya. It wasn't the first time I'd eaten myself into oblivion amidst a haze of charcoal, but I'd never before eaten with people who still had room for more - not just a snack, but chicken satay, roti tisu and roti kaya at Mamak immediately afterwards.

The theme of excessive eating continued throughout the weekend. It was highly appropriate then that on Sunday we ended up at the Cabramatta Moon Festival, lured not only by the promise of stalls and snacking, but a spark of interest by Suze to enter the annual mooncake eating competition.

Having just come from the Malaysia Festival in Darling Harbour, the crowds and happy chaos at Cabramatta was an invigorating sight. The main drag of John Street and Freedom Plaza mall were filled with lantern-toting children, pram-pushing parents, and the hubbub of celebration.


Lian / lion figurine


Vegetarian stall


I was intrigued by the French tinned butter $5.50 each


Selling trinkets


Giant lantern in Freedom Plaza

We made it to the stage just in time to catch the pho eating competition. The Vietnamese staple of slippery rice noodles in a clear beef broth is always welcomed, but slurping these down at speed is another artform altogether. Five young males battled it out...


The pho noodle eating competition begins


After two minutes, contestant #5 finished his noodles first


Contestant #2 wasn't far behind


Contestant #3 tries to catch up


Contestant #5 seems to have it in the bag


And everyone's eyes soon turn to contestant #5


Contestant #5 wins!


Contestant #5 is triumphant, but in pain
- apparently he's now the back-to-back titleholder.

Forty-five minutes later, it was time for the mooncake eating competition. It may as well have been renamed as food blogger battle royale - Suze managed to convince Karen, Howard and Simon to join her on stage meaning that food bloggers had a four-in-six chance of winning!


Howard, Suze, Karen and Simon on stage


Karen is asked about her mooncake-eating strategy


Howard and Suze


Howard gets introduced and interviewed

One mooncake each. Lotus paste with one egg yolk. Six contestants. Four food bloggers. Let the battle begin!


Suze races out of the starting blocks
whilst Karen still struggles to open her mooncake packet


The other two contestants alongside a chewing Howard


Karen finally gets the mooncake packet open!


Simon is down to his last mouthful - Karen has just had her first


The body language reads "What were we thinking?"


Simon on his final mouthful


Simon wins!

Word is that trying to eat a mooncake without any liquid is like trying to eat peanut butter straight - the lotus paste sticks to the roof of your mouth and refuses to budge.

And what does a food blogger do after eating a whole mooncake? Eat more, of course.


Potato springs on a skewer being deep-fried


Suze with her custard apple fruit shake and potato coil

The potato wasn't as crunchy as you'd expect - but the fun of a potato coil is something I may have to reproduce with my apple slicer.


Peking duck skin from Iron Chef restaurant

Our eyes immediately alighted on the stall by Iron Chef restaurant offering Peking duck pancakes. I don't think we could've handed our money over fast enough.


Adding hoisin sauce


Assembling the Peking duck pancakes


Peking duck pancakes $5 for two

Juicy duck flesh, a crisp tile of skin, the coolness of cucumber and a sweet sticky dollop of hoisin in a soft wheatflour pancake. All kinds of delicious.

This year's Cabramatta Moon Festival was held on September 27, 2009 on John Street, Cabramatta.


Related GrabYourFork posts:
Cabramatta Moon Festival 2006
Cabramatta Chinese New Year Festival 2007

Cabramatta - Duc Thanh
Cabramatta - Hung Vuong
Cabramatta - Iron Chef Chinese Seafood Restaurant
Cabramatta - Phu Quoc
Cabramatta - Thanh Binh

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Competition winners

Thank you everyone for your entries in the Wellington prize pack and the SIFF World Chef Showcase competitions.

Brad from Wellington Tourism drew the winning entry of the Wellington prize pack worth NZ$125 and the winner is Paul S.

Joanna Savill, director of the Sydney International Food Festival, personally selected the winning entry for the ticket to Program 2 of the World Chef Showcase. She was impressed by the passion behind this answer, and the winner is Shez!

Congratulations to both winners. Please check your email!

For those who missed out on the World Chef Showcase tickets, there are still tickets available for sale. Program 6: Japan looks particularly interesting, with an interactive umami taste-testing and a final dessert session by Adriano Zumbo! And if you are attending the World Chef Showcase, leave a comment - if you're attending session 2, I'll know to keep an eye out for you!