Tikoy with Ube - Purple Yam Rice Cake for Lunar New Year

Tikoy (say 'tee-koy') is a steamed Chinese rice cake traditionally made with brown sugar and molasses. I added ube (purple yam) to my homemade steamed tikoy to give it a sweet flavor and fragrant aroma. In the Philippines, steamed cakes are gifted for the Lunar New Year for prosperity and good luck. After steaming the tikoy, we sliced and pan fried it. Each warm slice gets crisp on the outside while sticky soft inside. The yellow coating of the eggs are close in color to 'gold', a symbol of prosperity. The chewy, gummy consistency of the tikoy rice cake are supposed to make sure the luck 'sticks'. This is an Asian in America recipe by Elizabeth Ann Quirino. Serves 4.

*Recipe update: I share 2 alternative ways to steam this Tikoy: On the stove-top or in the Instant Pot multicooker. The cooking time is for the traditional stove-top cooking.

Prep Time10

Cook Time55

Resting Time1

Total Time1 1 5

Course: Appetizer, Dessert, Merienda, Snacks

Cuisine: Asian, Chinese, Filipino

Keyword: Tikoy with Ube

Servings: people

Calories: 776kcal

Author: Asian in America - Elizabeth Ann Quirino

Equipment

Steamer for stove-top cooking
cake pans to fit inside steamer: 7-inches or 9-inches in diameter
Instant Pot multicooker : 6 quarts or 8 quarts (if not steaming on stove-top)

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups sweet rice flour, like Mochiko
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup boiling water
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup boiled ube (purple yam) thawed at room temperature if frozen
3 teaspoons ube flavoring
2 whole eggs beaten
1/4 cup vegetable oil for pan - frying

For serving:

Hot tea

Instructions

To mix the Tikoy with Ube:

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together: Rice flour and salt. Set aside.
In a small bowl, add the sugar to the boiling water. Mix till sugar is dissolved.
Add the ube flavoring and blend well. Set aside.
To the rice flour mixture, pour the liquid mixture of ube flavoring and sugar. Mix well till there are no more lumps.
Add the boiled, mashed ube to this mixture. Blend ingredients till smooth. Set aside.

To cook the Tikoy with Ube:

Prepare the steamer by filling the bottom pan with water, about 3/4 full. Cover and turn up the heat to high so water can start boiling.
Separately, pour the ube-flour mixture into a pre-greased 9-inch cake pan (or one that will fit into the steamer).
I used 2 small Filipino oval llaneras, (each 4 inches in length).
Place the cake pans in the steamer layer which has holes. Put this layer over the boiling water.
Cover and steam tikoy for 55 minutes over boiling water.
*Note: Wrap the inside cover of the steamer with a kitchen towel or cheesecloth so water droplets do not fall on the tikoy .
Check the water level towards the middle of steaming to make sure it has not evaporated. Refill the water as needed.
Tikoy is cooked when it is firm and there is no more trace of liquid after steaming.
Cool the cake pans of tikoy on the counter till they are at room temperature.
When tikoy has cooled, cover with plastic wrap, then foil all over. Refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight to firm up.
*Note: You can cook the tikoy 2 weeks before the Lunar New Year and store it in the refrigerator till ready to pan-fry during the festivities.

To pan-fry Tikoy with Ube:

Remove the tikoy from the cake pans. Slice the tikoy into bite-sized squares or rectangle shapes (2-inches each).
Dip each slice into a small bowl of beaten eggs till tikoy is coated completely.
In a large skillet or wok, over medium-high heat, add the oil. When oil is hot enough in about 2 to 3 minutes, add the tikoy slices coated with egg.
Pan-fry each slice for 1 to 2 minutes on each side. Turn the tikoy slices over with a turner or long chopsticks.
Drain fried tikoy slices on parchment paper or paper towels to remove excess oil.
Arrange slices on a serving platter. Serve warm with piping- hot tea.

Cook's comments:

You can substitute ube powder for the fresh, boiled ube. Take 1 cup ube powder and soak in 1/4 cup warm water for about 5 to 6 minutes till blended and there are no more lumps. Add this to the rice flour mixture according to instructions above. Follow rest of procedure for cooking tikoy.

To cook Tikoy with Ube in the Instant Pot:

Follow directions above for mixing the ube, flour and other ingredients.
Pour the tikoy-ube mixture into a 7-inch cake pan that fits in the Instant Pot.
*Note: I used the Filipino oval llanera for this recipe.
Place a metal or silicone trivet in the inside of the Instant Pot.
Pour about 3 cups of water into the inside pot. Water has to reach the bottom of the cake pan, just above the trivet.
Close and lock the lid. Set valve to Sealing.
Click Manual + High Pressure and set timer to cook for 25 minutes.
When buzzer sounds to announce cooking is done, do a Quick Release.
Carefully unlock and open the lid. Set the lid on a safe place on the counter.
Using silicone mitts, lift handles of the trivet to take out the cake pan. Cool on the counter. When tikoy has cooled down, cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight.
Slice and pan-fry according to recipe instructions above.

Notes on the Instant Pot:

It takes about 17 minutes for the Instant Pot to preheat to High Pressure and for cooking time to begin. For other multicooker brands, check the product manual.
Safety precautions: Use accessories recommended for the Instant Pot like silicone or metal. Do not use glassware. Read the manual for complete safety information.

Copyright Notice:

All the images and content on this blog are COPYRIGHT PROTECTED and owned by my media company Besa-Quirino LLC. This means BY LAW you are NOT allowed to copy, scrape, lift, frame, plagiarize or use my photos and recipe content I wrote, on your website,books, films, television shows or videos without my permission. If you want to republish this recipe or content on another website, video, news article,or media outlets mentioned above please ASK my permission, re-write it in your own words and simply link back to this blog to give proper attribution. It’s the legal thing to do. Thank you. Email me at [email protected]

Nutrition