Tikoy (homemade) a.k.a. Chinese Rice Cake or Nian Gao

Nian Gao, most commonly known as “Tikoy” or Chinese Rice Cake in the Philippines, is the most popular sweet cake whenever there is a celebration of the Chinese New Year.  Other people tagged it as Chinese New Year Rice Cake, Chinese New Year Cake, Chinese Cake, or Chinese Sweet Cake.

How to make Tikoy also known as Chinese Rice Cake or Nian Gao

Although there might be a few or probably none at all will do another dragon dance on the street due to the ongoing pandemic crisis, still these tikoys will surely be present at every Juan’s table.

A whole round of Tikoy is usually being cut into slices. Some make a small pizza cut while most do the usual cut wherein the size is about half an inch thickness and around 2 – 2 1/2 inches long. As far as I know, most of us Filipinos cook it by frying after dipping in a well-beaten egg or coat them with a flour or cornstarch.

And since I still don’t go out for grocery yet, I can’t just grab any box of Tikoy anywhere.  So, I created my own, homemade Tikoy !

My homemade Tikoy also known as Chinese Rice Cake or Nian Gao

If you don’t have a glutinous rice flour, and you have a glutinous rice available in your pantry, you can create your own rice flour. Wash the glutinous rice, then put it in a bowl of water and scrub it by hand for a full 10 seconds. To soften it, soak in clean water overnight, or for at least 8 to 12 hours. Drain the rice well and grind it finely with the use of a coffee grinder or a food processor.  Transfer the ground rice flour into a bowl and be sure to sift it well.

For the sugar, you can use any kind of sugar you want, and add them based on your preferred taste.  Using a brown sugar will make your Tikoy to in brown color.

It was a success at first try but I consumed a lot of hours.  On my second try, I wanted to create more so I prepared for two(2) servings.  I miscalculated the mixture so it turned out soft again even after longer hours of steaming it.  Finally, it was perfectly done in less than an hour after reducing the amount of water!

Check out my recipe below:

Print Recipe

Tikoy (Homemade) a.k.a. Chinese Rice Cake or Nian Gao

Course: Appetizer, Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: Chinese

Keyword: Chinese Cake, Chinese New Year Cake, Chinese New Year Rice Cake, Chinese Rice Cake, homemade tikoy, nian gao, sweet cake, sweet rice cake, tikoy

Author: WAHMmy Recipes

Equipment

• Hand Mixer or Electric Mixer

Ingredients

• 1 cup glutinous rice flour
• 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp water
• 1 cup sugar white or brown
• 1/8 tbsp cooking oil

Instructions

• Combine all the three ingredients in a bowl. Mix well and make sure that there are no bubbles or formed balls within the mixture.
• Grease the pan with a little of your cooking oil before putting the mixture to avoid the mixture from sticking even if it's cooked already.
• Transfer the mixture into a round pan
• Cover the pan with a cheesecloth or an aluminum foil to avoid getting moistures from the heat of the steam.
• Put the pan in a steamer for about 40-45minutes.
• After removing from the steamer, let it cool down by removing the foil cover or cheesecloth and serve after 8 hours or more.
• Grease your knife with a little oil and slice according to your preferred cuts.
• Coat with either flour, egg or cornstarch before frying.

Video

Notes

This popular Chinese delicacy may be eaten either as a snack or dessert.  Best served with a hot tea, you can even serve this during breakfast.

If you want to add a variety of flavors to your homemade Nian Gao, you may do so.  The usual varieties are Pandan, Ube, Mocha, and Choco flavor.  The one I prepared was the plain one and over all the flavors, I liked it the most.  If you want to add more flavor, you may replace a portion of the water with milk.

Kung Hei Fat Choi!