Tikoy!

Chinese New Year is almost here. The official first day of the Year of the Rooster is on the 9th of February. But already we're celebrating foodwise. Among the traditional food making an appearance during this occassion is the Chinese New Year Pudding or tikoy as known among Pinoys. (apologies to purplegirl's pogi little boy).

The tikoy is made up of ground glutinous rice flour, wheat starch, lard, water, and sugar. The type of the latter will determine the color of the pudding. So you have a choice of brown or white tikoy. I don't have the patience yet of making this which involves steaming for 2 hours. Why slave away when you can conveniently buy one from your Chinese grocers.

There is only one way I know, sorry, like to eat it - dipped in egg and fried lightly. I've seen it in some savoury dishes but it didn't quite appeal to me.

• As you can see above I sliced the tikoy to about 1/2 - 1/4 inch thick. You may slice it further to make it smaller. If necessary, chill the tikoy first in the fridge to make it firmer and not so sticky, thus, easier to slice and handle.
  
• Beat an egg in a bowl. Dip the sliced tikoy pieces in the beaten egg.
• Fry on low to medium heat in a pan (preferably non-stick) with a little oil for a few minutes. Turn over to the other side. Dish up and serve.

When warm, the tikoy is quite sticky so be careful when you eat it especially if you have artificial dentures. ;) This is very nice as a snack with some Oolong or Chrysanthemum tea. Kung Hei Fat Choi !