Getting ready for Chinese New Year? Check out these creative Tikoy recipe ideas here.
What can you read in this article?
- The legend behind tikoy
- Fried tikoy recipe that your kids will appreciate
- Tikoy with a Filipino twist
The Lunar New Year is approaching once again. If you’re Chinese, you must already have your menu set for New Year’s Eve. If you’re not Chinese, chances are one of your Tsinoy friends has probably gifted you with a box of tikoy.
Tikoy, or traditionally called Nián gāo is a type of rice cake made from glutinous rice flour. It is considered the centerpiece during Chinese New Year’s eve just like ham and queso de bola in a Pinoy Noche Buena. The Chinese believe that eating tikoy signifies good luck for the coming year.
Tikoy legend
Image from Shutterstock
According to Panlasang Pinoy, the legend behind this famous Chinese pudding is revolves around a kitchen god that observes and watches over families.
Every year, the kitchen god goes to heaven before the Chinese New Year to report the family’s activities. A bad report would mean a whole year of bad luck for that family.
So according to the legend, feeding sticky rice cake to the kitchen god hinders him from saying anything against the family as the sticky rice cake will make it hard for him to open his mouth.
The Philippines has been called the melting pot of Asia, and our food has been heavily influenced by Chinese cuisine. So regardless of whether you believe in that legend or not, there’s no arguing that we Pinoys have learned to love tikoy and we enjoy cooking it during this season as a tasty snack or a sumptuous dessert.
We’ve learned to love tikoy so much that we’ve come up of our own different ways of preparing tikoy here in the Philippines.
Creative Tikoy Recipe Ideas
Image from Shutterstock
While there’s nothing wrong with the traditional way of cooking tikoy (dipped in egg wash and fried), some Pinoy kids don’t find it appealing. The challenge? Prepare tikoy in a way that’s interesting to the kids. Here are some tikoy recipe ideas that you can try:
Tikoy Lumpia
If your kids don’t like seeing the mushy glutinous rice when they’re eating, wrap it a la turon or lumpia style. My kids definitely love anything with cheese, so the fusion of the sweetness of the tikoy and the cheese flavor really works for them. Basically, it’s cheese sticks made extra special with tikoy.
Ingredients:
- tikoy (sliced into sticks)
- cheese (sliced in thin sticks)
- spring roll wrapper
Instructions
- Cut the tikoy and cheese into strips.
- Wrap the tikoy and cheese in a spring roll wrapper. Fold and seal tightly.
- Heat oil in a pan. Fry the lumpiang tikoy in batches. Cook until golden brown in color.
- Serve it warm!
If you’re not a fan of cheese, you can add something else to the mix, such as ube halaya or langka strips.
Tikoy a la Mode
Here’s a special take on your traditional fried tikoy. What kid would ever say no to ice cream? The trick is to serve the tikoy warm and top it with your favorite ice cream right away.
Ingredients:
- tikoy
- egg wash
- ice cream of your choice
- chocolate syrup
- crushed nuts or other toppings like corn flakes or marshmallow
Instructions:
- Fry tikoy like you’d usually do.
- Top it off with a scoop of the ice cream.
- Sprinkle some crushed nuts.
- Then, to finish, drizzle chocolate syrup on top.
- Serve ASAP and enjoy!
READ MORE:
Leche Flan Recipe: Ang egg-cellent dessert na puwedeng ipang-negosyo
Boy or Girl? “Predict” Your Baby’s Gender With This Chinese Pregnancy Calendar
Timeless Pinoy desserts that are sure to fill you with the holiday spirit
Image from Shutterstock
Ginataang Tikoy
Here’s another Pinoy take on tikoy. Ginataang Halo-Halo or Ginataang Bilo-bilo is a popular Filipino snack made with glutinous rice balls (locally known as bilo-bilo), coconut cream, sugar, saging na saba, sago pearls, and ripe jackfruit.
My kids eat ginataan, but they don’t like the bilo-bilo in it. Surprisingly though, they love tikoy. So in this recipe, instead of coming up with bilo-bilo, you use tikoy. This will look appetizing for the kids because of the color.
- Tikoy
- Langka
- Sago
- Saging na Saba
- Water
- Kamote
- Coconut Milk or Gata
- Sugar
Instructions:
- In a pot, boil water and add sugar.
- Add the coconut milk or gata and continue to bring it to a boil.
- While waiting, you can slice the banana, kamote and tikoy into cubes.
- Add the sliced ingredients, langka, and sago into the mixture.
- Mix well until the ingredients are all cooked.
Peanut Tikoy Rolls
Does your child love peanut butter? How about you try this easy recipe that includes just that?
Ingredients:
- Tikoy (laid flat)
- Peanut Butter (we prefer the creamy type)
- Ground peanuts
Instructions:
- Squeeze some peanut butter on the tikoy.
- Roll the tikoy. Make sure to seal in the peanut butter inside.
- Cut off the roll and cut into preferred sizes.
- Coat the pieces in grounded roasted peanuts.
- Serve and enjoy.
You can substitute the peanut butter with chocolate syrup, dulce de leche or ube, and substitute ground peanuts with sesame seeds too.
If you want to be extra, here’s a tutorial of the recipe, including how to make tikoy from scratch.
All four previous recipes are from Booky
Image from Shutterstock
Tikoy with Coconut Sauce and Mangoes
If you love Thai sticky rice, you’ll love this special tikoy recipe by Chef Erika de Leon of Global Academy. The kids will appreciate the pairing of tikoy with the coconut sauce and mango. Sweetness overload!
Ingredients:
- Tikoy
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 to 3 eggs, beaten
- 250 to 300 grams cashews, chopped
- 1 cup sweet red beans
- 2 ripe mangoes, sliced 1/4-inch thick
- 1 can coconut milk
- 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch (dilute it in water)
- Vegetable oil for frying
Procedure
1. Cut tikoy across, making 1/2-inch thick slices. Cut in half across to make rectangles.
2. Slice through the center of each rectangle and fill with red beans.
3. Coat each piece in flour, dip in eggs and coat with chopped cashews. Set aside in the chiller.
4. Prepare coconut sauce by combining coconut milk and brown sugar.
5. Place the coconut milk and sugar in a pan and warm it until the sugar dissolves. Add the cornstarch and heat until the mixture slightly thickens. Set aside.
6. Add vegetable oil to a pan over medium heat. Fry the tikoy pieces (careful not to overcrowd the pan) for about two to three minutes on each side.
7. To serve, smear coconut sauce onto a plate and place the tikoy on top. Garnish with mango slices.
Try these tikoy recipe ideas and serve them to your kids. Let us know which one they enjoyed! Kung Hei Fat Choi!
