bebinca

English

Alternative forms

• bebinka

Noun

bebinca (uncountable)

1. A traditional Indian pudding made with coconut milk and garnished with almonds, and served warm.

Macanese

Alternative forms

• bebinga

Etymology

Unclear. Possibly from Konkani [script needed] (bibik), or borrowed from Malay bingka (“Malay cake made of rice flour, coconut cream, eggs and sugar”), entering Macanese via Indo-Portuguese with reduplication of the first syllable. Likely not related to Portuguese beber (“to drink”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɛˈbin.ka/, /bɛˈbiŋ.ka/

Noun

bebinca

1. pudding, cake (sweet or savoury)

   bebinca di lete ― milk pudding

   bebinca di nabo, bebinca-rábano ― turnip cake

   bebinca-pulú ― glutinous rice cake

Usage notes

• This is a generic term for any sort of pudding or cake, and does not necessarily pertain to the Indo-Portuguese dessert.
• bebinca di nabo and bebinca-rábano are equivalent to Cantonese 蘿蔔糕／萝卜糕 (lo⁴ baak⁶ gou¹), whence also a Macanese derivation lo-pac-cou.

Further reading

• https://www.macaneselibrary.org/pub/english/uipatua.htm#b