The Filosofi of Keranjang Cake

One of the typical cakes celebration New Year Imlek was the basket cake. The similar cake dodol have the shape of round that was penganan obligatory that must be available in the community's Tionghoa house that celebrated Imlek. According to the ancient belief, the people Tiongkok believed that the brazier in the kitchen in each house was inhabited by the God Tungku, the god who was sent by Yik Huang Shang Ti (King Surga) to supervise each house in providing cooking every day.

Each date 24 months 12 Imlek (six days before the change in the year), the God Tungku will come home to Heaven to report his task. Then to avoid matters that did not please for the people, emerged the idea of providing the pleasant serving the God Tungku. All the resident afterwards provided dodol sweet that was served in the basket, was acknowledged as the Keranjang Cake.
The Keranjang cake or Nian Gao or more often was acknowledged as the Kranjang Cake (tii kwee) was the obligatory cake imlek. This cake became famous from his edition that was made from the basket. Nian personally weigh down the year and Gao meant the cake but also canned be heard like high words, therefore the basket cake was often compiled high or stratified.
Increasingly above increasingly became smaller the cake that was compiled, that that gave the meaning of the increase in the matter of fortune or prosperity. In ancient the number or the height of the basket cake indicated prosperity of the house of the owner's family. Usually the basket cake was compiled above with the coloured cup cake red on the top. This was as the symbol of the sweet life that increasingly climbed and blossomed like the cup cake.
In the Hokkian dialect, tii kwee meant the sweet cake, so the person did not have difficulty guessed if this cake tasted sweet. Cakes that were served in the public holiday the New Year Imlek generally far more sweeter than usually, because therefore was hoped in the forthcoming year destiny could become again sweeter than in years beforehand.
The Keranjang cake have the shape of round, contained the meaning so that the family that celebrated this Imlek could continue to be united, harmonious and determined in faced the year that will come. Because of being made from sticky rice flour, the basket Cake became sticky. The meaning was overturned "was close him" this was the close association. So each one of the family's members must eat the cake as the symbol of glue or the closeness of inter-member relations the family.
Have you enjoyed sweet and sticky him the Keranjang Cake together your family's member this year?