 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2016) |
 Cantonese-style nian gao | |
| Alternative names | Year cake, Chinese New Year's cake, tikoy, ti kuih |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | China |
| Region or state | East Asia (Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan) Southeast Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam) South Asia (Sri Lanka) |
| Variations | Varies by region (Cantonese, Shanghai, Fujian, etc.) |
| Other information | Typically consumed during Chinese New Year |
| Nian gao | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 年糕 | ||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | year cake | ||||||||||||||||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 甜粿 | ||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | sweet kuih | ||||||||||||||||
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Nian gao (Chinese: 年糕; pinyin: niángāo; Jyutping: nin4 gou1), sometimes translated as year cake[1][2] or New Year cake[1][3][4] or Chinese New Year's cake, is a food prepared from glutinous rice flour and consumed in Chinese cuisine. It is also simply known as "rice cake".[3] While it can be eaten all year round, traditionally it is most popular during the Chinese New Year. It is considered good luck to eat nian gao during this time of the year because nian gao (年糕) is a homonym for "higher year" or "grow every year" (年高), which means "a more prosperous year".[4][3] The character 年 is literally translated as "year", and the character 糕 (gāo) is literally translated as "cake" and is identical in sound to the character 高, meaning "tall" or "high".[4][5] In Mandarin (though not all Chinese languages), Nian gao (年糕) also is an exact homonym of "sticky cake" (黏糕／粘糕),[1] the character 黏／粘 (nián) meaning "sticky".
This sticky sweet snack was believed to be an offering to the Kitchen God, with the aim that his mouth will be stuck with the sticky cake, so that he cannot badmouth the human family in front of the Jade Emperor.[3] It is also traditionally eaten during Chinese New Year.
Originally from China, it spread to or gave rise to related rice cakes in Southeast Asian countries and Sri Lanka due to overseas Chinese influences.
- ^ a b c Mcwilliams, Mark (2016). Food and communication : proceedings of the oxford symposium on food 2015. [S.l.]: Prospect Books. p. 232. ISBN 978-1-909248-49-6. OCLC 954105485.
- ^ Food, cuisine, and cultural competency for culinary, hospitality, and nutrition professionals. Sari Edelstein. Sudbury, Mass.: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. 2011. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-7637-5965-0. OCLC 316824340.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ a b c d Roufs, Timothy G. (2014). Sweet treats around the world : an encyclopedia of food and culture. Kathleen Smyth Roufs. Santa Barbara. pp. 79–80. ISBN 978-1-61069-221-2. OCLC 890981785.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b c Fong, Mary (2000-01-01). "'Luck Talk' in celebrating the Chinese New Year". Journal of Pragmatics. 32 (2): 219–237. doi:10.1016/S0378-2166(99)00048-X. ISSN 0378-2166.
- ^ Lee, Josephine Tsui Yueh (2007). New York City's Chinese community. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Pub. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-7385-5018-3. OCLC 154698918.