The Cham People’s Ginger Cake

This type of cake is made from available materials of glutinous rice flour, sugar, chicken eggs and alcohol yeast. However, to make delicious cakes, it requires the Cham women’s skillful hands and creativeness.

Firstly, mix glutinous rice flourwith chicken eggs and alcohol yeast, and then pound the mixture well before kneading each ball of dough into ginger-shaped cakes which are fried for about five minutes until they become brownish yellow. Dip the cakes in sugar water to make them look smooth and not curved and finally put them on a tray for drying for 10-15 minutes to increase their crispiness.

Glutinous rice flour is prepared to make ginger cakes.

To make delicious ginger cakes, it is necessary to mix glutinous rice flour with chicken eggs and a little alcohol yeast, and then pound the mixture well.

Cham women knead the dough into ginger-shaped cakes.

A ginger cake from the dough.

Ginger cakes are indispensable offerings in important festivals of the Cham people, showing the Cham’s unique culinary culture.

Ginger cakes have a distinctive taste of the lightness sweetness and greasiness of glutinous rice, sugar and eggs and are very crispy.

« Ginger cake is also known as “sulky cake” by the Cham people. This name relates to the “Hon Vong Phu” legend that tells a touching story about the love of a wife, called Nai Chrao cho Pho, for her husband. The wife sat every day on a stone and ate this type of cake to wait for her husband’s return until she died. » (Lam Tan Binh – Director of the Cham Cultural Centre in NinhThuan Province)

By Quynh Anh

The Cham People’s Ginger Cake Related image(s)