Type | Pastry |
---|---|
Place of origin | China |
Main ingredients | flour (usually rice flour), leavening (traditionally yeast), sugar |
Similar dishes | Htanthi mont, Bánh bò, Kue mangkok |
Fa gao | |||||||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 發糕 | ||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 发糕 | ||||||||||
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Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 發粿 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Second alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 發粄 | ||||||||||
|
Fa gao ( simplified Chinese: 发糕; traditional Chinese: 發糕; pinyin: fāgāo; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hoat-koé), also called fat pan (發粄) by the Hakka, [1] prosperity cake, [2] [3] fortune cake, [4] Cantonese sponge cake, [5] is a Chinese steamed, cupcake-like pastry. [6] Because it is often characterized by a split top when cooked, it is often referred as Chinese smiling steamed cake or blooming flowers. [6] It is commonly consumed on the Chinese new year. [7] It is also eaten on other festivals, wedding, and funerals by the Hakka people. [8]
The name of cake, fagao, is a homonym for "cake which expands" and "prosperity cake" as "fa" means both "prosperity" and "expand" and "gao" means "cake". [7]
The Hakka calls the "top split" of the fa ban "xiao", which means smiling which resembles a sign of a coming fortune; therefore, the bigger the "top split", the better. [8]
The cake is made of flour (usually rice flour), leavening (traditionally yeast, but can be chemical leavening), [7] sugar or another sweetener; it is then steamed (instead of baked) on high heat until the top splits into a characteristic "split top" of four segments, or sometimes 3 sections. [6] The batter is typically left to rest for fermentation prior to being steam-cooked.
These cakes, when used to encourage prosperity in the new year, are often dyed bright colours.[ citation needed] The most common colours traditionally are white and pink, but it can also be turned brown by adding palm sugar. [6]
Chinese Singaporeans use fa gao as offerings during ancestral worship. [5] [4]
In Mauritius, the fa gao is known as "poutou chinois" ( lit. 'Chinese puttu') or "poutou rouge" ( lit. 'red puttu' in French). [9] [10] It is called "pot pan" (發粄/发粄; fa ban) by the Mauritians of Hakka descent. [11] Fa gao in Mauritius is typically pink in colour, [12] [13] and it is eaten on Chinese New Year. [9] [10] However, it is actually sold and eaten all year long.
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Type | Pastry |
---|---|
Place of origin | China |
Main ingredients | flour (usually rice flour), leavening (traditionally yeast), sugar |
Similar dishes | Htanthi mont, Bánh bò, Kue mangkok |
Fa gao | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Traditional Chinese | 發糕 | ||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 发糕 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 發粿 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Second alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 發粄 | ||||||||||
|
Fa gao ( simplified Chinese: 发糕; traditional Chinese: 發糕; pinyin: fāgāo; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hoat-koé), also called fat pan (發粄) by the Hakka, [1] prosperity cake, [2] [3] fortune cake, [4] Cantonese sponge cake, [5] is a Chinese steamed, cupcake-like pastry. [6] Because it is often characterized by a split top when cooked, it is often referred as Chinese smiling steamed cake or blooming flowers. [6] It is commonly consumed on the Chinese new year. [7] It is also eaten on other festivals, wedding, and funerals by the Hakka people. [8]
The name of cake, fagao, is a homonym for "cake which expands" and "prosperity cake" as "fa" means both "prosperity" and "expand" and "gao" means "cake". [7]
The Hakka calls the "top split" of the fa ban "xiao", which means smiling which resembles a sign of a coming fortune; therefore, the bigger the "top split", the better. [8]
The cake is made of flour (usually rice flour), leavening (traditionally yeast, but can be chemical leavening), [7] sugar or another sweetener; it is then steamed (instead of baked) on high heat until the top splits into a characteristic "split top" of four segments, or sometimes 3 sections. [6] The batter is typically left to rest for fermentation prior to being steam-cooked.
These cakes, when used to encourage prosperity in the new year, are often dyed bright colours.[ citation needed] The most common colours traditionally are white and pink, but it can also be turned brown by adding palm sugar. [6]
Chinese Singaporeans use fa gao as offerings during ancestral worship. [5] [4]
In Mauritius, the fa gao is known as "poutou chinois" ( lit. 'Chinese puttu') or "poutou rouge" ( lit. 'red puttu' in French). [9] [10] It is called "pot pan" (發粄/发粄; fa ban) by the Mauritians of Hakka descent. [11] Fa gao in Mauritius is typically pink in colour, [12] [13] and it is eaten on Chinese New Year. [9] [10] However, it is actually sold and eaten all year long.
{{
cite book}}
: CS1 maint: others (
link)
{{
cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)
{{
cite book}}
: CS1 maint: others (
link)