Asabe‘ Zainab (Arabic:أصابع زينب,lit. 'Zainab's fingers'), alsoSawabe‘ Zeinab (Egyptian Arabic:صوابع زينب), are acannoli-like dessert popular in theArab world typically made from fried dough with many variations.[1]
A recipe for cannoli-like "stuffed tubes" orqananeet mahshuwwa (Arabic:قنانيط محشوة,lit. 'stuffed tubes') appears in a 13th-CenturyAndalusian cookbook, the recipe calls for frying unleavened dough then stuffing it with sugar and nuts.[2][3] They appear later in aMamluk Egyptian cookbook as "Zaynab's fingers".[4][5] It is believed by some historians that these medieval recipes might have influenced modern day cannoli through their presence inMuslim Sicily.[1][6][3]
The origin of the nameZainab's fingers is debated, and there are multiple competing stories with explanations for the name, some stories claim that "Zainab" refers toZaynab bint Ali, the granddaughter ofProphet Muhammed,[8][9][10] other stories claim that Zaynab was a famous queen,[1] other popular stories claim that Zainab was the cook who invented the dish.[8]
InOmani cuisine,asabe Zainab are a friedfilo pastry roll stuffed with cream cheese, they are analogous toznoud el-sit [ar] that are popular in Iraq an the Levant.[15] "Balah al-Sham" are sometimes referred to as "Zaynab's fingers" as well.[16]
InNablus,asabe Zaynab resemblelokma but are made with semolina flour and are shaped into fingers rather than balls.[17][18][19]
^"هل تذوقتم حلاوة "أصابع زينب"؟ إليكم أصلها" [Have you tasted the sweetness of "Zainab's Fingers"? Here's its origin.].CNN Arabic (in Arabic). 9 April 2019. Retrieved23 September 2025.
