In the Chinese Hakka community, ramie leaves are called "chu yap (苧葉)," which is a main ingredient in making pancake-like dumplings with glutinous rice powder, sugar and water. These glutinous rice powder dumplings are known as "ban (粄)" in Hakka or "Cha Kwo (茶棵)" in Cantonese, similar to another Southeast Asian delicacy otherwise known as Kuih. The ramie leaves are picked, cleaned and ground in mortar, mixed into a dough of glutinous rice powder, water and sugar, kneaded thoroughly and placed on palm-sized square- or circular-cut banana leaves and steamed. The ramie leaves give the dumplings a dark green colour and unique aroma.