pa chew cheng

9.9

A traditional Chinese cake with a soft, chewy texture and sweet flavor

noun

: pa chew cheng

My grandmother taught me to make pa chew cheng every New Year.

Examples

The bakery specializes in traditional treats like pa chew cheng.
Guests were delighted to try homemade pa chew cheng at the celebration.
I love eating pa chew cheng during festivals.
Have you ever tried pa chew cheng?
During the Chinese New Year, my family enjoys making pa chew cheng together.
At the festival, people lined up to buy freshly made pa chew cheng from the vendor.
She shared her secret recipe for pa chew cheng, which has been passed down for generations.

Synonyms

pavlova

vspa chew cheng

1 7.5

A sweet dessert with a crisp base of whipped egg white, cream, and fresh fruit

is a traditional cake with a non-meringue texture and distinct flavor

Surface Forms

pa chew cheng singular

pa chew chengs plural

Morphology

pa + chew + cheng

This is a culture-specific lexicalized name for a food item: knowing 'pa' (father) and having no glosses for 'chew' and 'cheng' would not allow a B1 learner to infer 'a traditional Chinese cake'. The item behaves like a proper name or fixed cultural term rather than a compositional phrase, so its meaning is not derivable from the constituents.

Etymology

Pa chew cheng may come from old family kitchens where cooks mixed a soft dough (pa), wrapped it up (chew) and steamed it into a small cake (cheng) for holidays. That's why pa chew cheng now means a traditional 'cake' often made for celebrations.