Denpasar, Balipost. com – Ahead of the Chinese New Year celebration, basket cakes are again one of the typical dishes sought by Chinese people throughout Indonesia, including in Bali. The tradition of serving basket cakes is not only a complement to the celebration, but also a symbol of prayer and hope for luck, togetherness, and sweet life in the new year.
Basket cake, also known as Nian Gao, does have a deep meaning in the Chinese tradition. With its sticky texture, basket cake symbolizes the warmth of the family and hope for close relationships in the new year.
Nevertheless, monitoring in several traditional markets and shops in Denpasar, Tuesday (1/21), showed the sale of basket cakes had not yet reached its peak. The atmosphere in places that sell basket cakes still look empty of visitors.
One of the basket cake traders in the Badung Market area, Oming, explained that the price of basket cakes he sold varied, ranging from Rp. 35,000 for small sizes to Rp. 70,000 for the largest size. According to him, basket cakes sold still maintain traditional recipes, using main ingredients such as brown sugar and glutinous rice flour, without many additional variants.
The man who is familiarly called Mr. Oming only sells one variant of a basket cake. “The most supplied is indeed from outside Bali, especially from Java, such as Tegal,” he explained, Monday (1/20).
However, there are also some basket cakes made by local crafters in Bali, although the amount is not as much as that was imported from outside. (Ni Wayan Linayani/Balipost)
