Kung Hei Fat Choi! In spirit of the Chinese New Year, I am sharing this sticky rice cake recipe. It is commonly known as nian gao, but it is called tikoy in the Philippines. This “lucky” cake is often served during Chinese New Year celebrations and given away. In Chinese culture, they believe that eating it and giving it away attracts good luck. It can be eaten as is or heated, but it is best served dipped in egg and pan fried.

Ingredients:

3 1/4 cups glutinous rice flour
2/3 cup brown sugar or 2 slabs Chinese brown candy(pian tang in Mandarin; peen tong in Cantonese)
7 cups boiling water
1/2 cup Chinese dates
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
1 tablespoon vegetable oil or non-stick cooking spray

Soak the Chinese dates in water for 30 minutes or until they become soft. You may also microwave them in a bowl of water under high heat for 30 seconds. After, cut the dates in half lengthwise and pit them. You may use fresh dates if desired.

In a bowl, dissolve the sugar in boiling water.

In another bowl, combine the glutinous flour, sugar mixture and milk. Mix well until you form dough. Add a tablespoon of water and knead. Do this until the dough becomes smooth. Fold in half of the dates.

Get an 8 inch round cake pan and grease it with oil or spray it with non-stick cooking spray. Place the dough in the pan and spread it evenly. Make sure that it is packed and that there are no spaces. Place the remaining dates in a decorative manner and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Steam the cake over medium high heat for 1 hour or cook it in the oven at 350F for 30-45 minutes until it shrinks and the edges are no longer sticking on the pan. Loosen the edges with a knife and remove it from the pan. Let it cool. For baking, submerge the cake pan in a bigger cake pan half filled with water before baking. Wrap it in wax paper and refrigerate overnight or until it hardens.

Slice the cake into thin slices around 1/4 inch wide and serve. If you want to heat it, you may steam it for 3-5 minutes or place it in a microwave for 10 seconds. You can also serve it fried. For this, coat the cake slices in egg (beaten) before frying under medium heat or until both sides are lightly browned. Strain the oil in paper towels.

Photo Courtesy Of: avlxyz