Master Ye Yonghua, the creator of the custard mooncake, shares the flavorful life behind a cherished legacy

In today’s era of rapid development, do you still find yourself nostalgic for the time-honored food shops tucked away in alleys and streets?

Unpretentious and low-key, they use premium ingredients and preserve the most traditional methods. Working from dawn till dusk, these shops pass down their crafts through generations, all to keep culinary skills alive—with flavors remaining authentic and consistent for decades.

The Chief Pastry Chef at Royal, the father of custard mooncakes, Master Ye Yonghua, is precisely such a master craftsman, dedicated to preserving the culture and techniques of traditional Chinese pastry-making.

Entering the tradeFifty years ago,he developed a passionfor pastry that has never waned.

With over 50 years in the industry, he began as an apprentice at the age of 13, learning to make various types of traditional Chinese dim sum under the guidance of his master. Working more than 14 hours a day, he accumulated experience bit by bit and gradually developed his own unique methods. Through years of practice, he mastered the making of many classic pastries, excelling in items such as shrimp dumplings, char siu buns, and siu mai. It is this spirit of striving for perfection that transformed Master Ye from a clueless apprentice into a highly skilled and experienced dim sum chef.

In 1986, the seasoned Master Ye was invited to serve as the head of the dim sum department at the Peninsula Hotel’s Peninsula Grill in Hong Kong. Around that time, with Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, the hotel wanted to create a special batch of mooncakes for their guests. Inspired by the custard bun, Master Ye used custard as the filling and butter as the crust, blending Chinese and Western elements to create the custard mooncake. It quickly became a sensation in Hong Kong, earning widespread praise from diners and earning him the title of the “doyen of Hong Kong’s mooncake world.”

Filled with passion for traditional Chinese pastry and a love for sharing, he hoped more people could enjoy high-quality baked goods while helping to preserve authentic pastry techniques. Last year, he joined Royal as the Chief Pastry Chef. In addition to the classic mini custard mooncake, Master Ye led Royal’s expert R&D team to innovate further based on the custard mooncake, creating an entirely new range of flowing-center mooncakes—ushering in the flowing-center era of mooncakes.

A master and apprentice duo,take mooncake craftsmanship tonew heights

To continue the legacy of authentic Chinese pastry-making, Master Ye Yonghua’s only official disciple, Master Lai Wing-kwun, also joined Royal this year as a pastry chef. He has worked as a head chef in star-rated hotels around the world (including The Peninsula Hong Kong, The Peninsula Bangkok, hotels in Malaysia, Shanghai, and others), and served as the head of the dim sum department at The Peninsula Shanghai for over a decade, where he established the department from scratch. As a Michelin two-star pastry chef, Master Lai is passionate about innovation and transformation. By combining ingredient characteristics with pastry techniques, he develops a variety of uniquely flavored pastries.

During the 2019 mooncake season, Masters Ye and Lai collaborated not only to fully upgrade the recipes for the mini custard mooncake, flowing-center custard, and flowing-center sesame mooncakes—carefully selecting top-grade salted egg yolks cured for 40 days and incorporating them into secret fillings for a richer umami flavor—but also co-developed several distinctive new flavors, such as flowing-center Musang King durian mooncakes, flowing-center ginger-infused white lotus paste mooncakes, and pumpkin seed-tangerine peel red bean paste mooncakes, all of which are considered Michelin-level in taste. The two masters revealed that flowing-center mooncakes have very high technical requirements, needing strict control over filling quality and demanding time and effort to continuously adjust recipes and methods. After hundreds of refinements, they achieved a flowing center effect even at room temperature.

A masterpiece of craftsmanshiphas been awardedthe highest gold prizeof the “Nobel Prize of Food”This year, Royal’s flowing-center mooncakes won the Grand Gold Award from Monde Selection, the World Quality Selections, often referred to as the “Nobel Prize of Food.” As a globally prestigious and authoritative food award, this marks the first time in 58 years that flowing-center mooncakes have received the highest Grand Gold distinction. Additionally, Royal’s mini custard mooncakes, double-gold yellow lotus seed paste mooncakes, and double-yolk white lotus seed paste mooncakes also received Gold Awards from Monde Selection, earning international recognition. This honor is a testament to the dedication and commitment to quality by both masters and the Royal team.

This year, Royal's flowing-center mooncakes were awarded the highest distinction of the Monde Selection — the Grand Gold Award. Known as the "Nobel Prize of Food," Monde Selection is a highly prestigious and impartial global food awards program. This marks the first time in 58 years that flowing-center mooncakes have received this top-tier accolade worldwide. Additionally, Royal's mini egg custard mooncakes, double-gold egg yolk lotus seed paste mooncakes, and double-egg yolk white lotus seed paste mooncakes also earned the Gold Award from Monde Selection, gaining international recognition for their excellence. This remarkable achievement is the result of the dedication and commitment to quality by the two master chefs and the entire Royal team.

“A love from the heart, upheld for a lifetime”—this spirit of craftsmanship has allowed Master Ye’s pastry creations to develop boundless charm over time. A taste you’ll never forget is the greatest affirmation of Master Ye’s artistry.