Jim Young - The Mooncake Baker in Sydney

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Jim Young - the mooncake baker
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Feature Article of the Moon Cake Baker in Sydney
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The amazing Mooncake Baker from Sydney
“When I was a little kid, I used to see my grandmother bake the mooncake and wondered why is
it called so”, remarked Jim Young, the 37 years-old chef who makes an impressive living baking
Mooncakes in Sydney!
Mooncake is a Chinese delicacy, pastries in general with symbols of fortune and prosperity
topped on it. It is hard to resist the golden hue of the mooncakes with the intricate patterns. The
soft little cake feels very delicate to hold, but as one digs into it, one can feel the creamy
smoothness of the dense texture. The delicate flavours dance on your taste buds, teasing and
titillating them.
“May the full moon bring blessings and happiness from our home to yours” Jim, Young, the
passionate mooncake baker at Jim’s Malaysia greets his customers with these words and serves
them his famous home baked mooncakes. He is known as the best mooncake baker in Australia
particularly in Sydney.
Welcome to the world of mooncakes as you enter Jim’s Malaysia! “I can’t think of my bakery
without mooncakes, “says Jim Young, the passionate baker who owns Jim’s Malaysia. It is a
popular restaurant that serves Malaysian street food and is located at Westfield Chatswood,
Sydney.
Jim Young is soft spoken and is passionate about his bakery and especially the mooncakes.
Before he became a renowned chef in Sydney, Jim started learning cooking at a very young age.
He started working in his family business in Penang Island, Malaysia as a kitchen hand. His
Brother-in-Law thought him the basics of running a restaurant business. Jim explored
constantly, and by his late 20s, he moved to China and dealt with Chinese authentic restaurants
for a couple of renowned Chinese Hotel gatherings. When he was in Australia on a family trip,
he fell in love with the climate and that is what influenced Jim to choose to move to Australia in
the year 2000. He has setup three restaurants in Sydney, which are Jim’s Malaysia in Chatswood
Westfield, Uncle Jim Malaysian Kitchen in Mossman and Old Jim Kee in Kensington Lane in
Central Park.
Jim speaks passionately about the Moon Festival and its significance. He is always ready to
discuss the Mooncake Festival. according to the legends of what his grandparents had told him.

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“Like other South Asians living abroad, we like to travel home to spend the festive times with
our family,” says Young. Many generations of Chinese and South Asians have been living in
Sydney for many years. Baking Mooncakes is a good way of connecting with one’s traditions
and feel at home. The mooncake festival holds great significance for the people of China as it
marks the beginning of harvest season.
“However, many legends are associated with the festival” said Jim, “Although different tales run
behind the festival, the most famous is that of Chang-E, wife of Hou Yi, the emperor responsible
for saving the earth from ten suns circling it”
“Legend has it that after shooting the suns down, Hou Yi possesses the ‘elixir of life’, which
makes him tyrannical. To save the people, his wife drinks the elixir after stealing it from her
husband, ascends to the moon, and turns into the moon goddess. Queen Mother of the Western
Paradise presents a cake to Hou Yi eating which he was able to withstand the sun’s heat. This
allowed him to visit his wife to the moon every month on the 15th day when there is full moon”.
said Jim.
“Today, the festival is celebrated to commemorate the victory of the rebels” said Jim.
Additionally, Jim tells that the mooncake festival is celebrated not just in China but also
throughout Asia and in countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam.
The little cake is symbolic of prosperity and fortune and given as gifts. Jim recalls excitedly how
during his childhood, the families stayed up past midnight and took to the streets to moon-gaze
and parade the multi-coloured lanterns.
Jim can talk for hours discussing the Mooncake Festival which also works as a fun social
gathering and a way of cultural education in colleges and universities. According to him, it does
not matter if one is a Chinese or not or is they are able to speak Chinese, it is fun to get together
and enjoy those mooncakes in different flavours. “People celebrate the festival in various ways;
some light lanterns, some conduct procession under the full moon and others search for love. The
basic theme of the festival however remains the same – hanging out with family and relish
mooncakes” said Jim.
Prior to Jim opening his own restaurant, mooncakes in Sydney used to be imported from China.
Today, he is the only chef in the entire Sydney who makes authentic Malaysian-style mooncake