Tikoy also known as Nián gāo, is a food prepared from glutinous rice flour and consumed in Chinese cuisine. While it can be eaten all year round, traditionally it is most popular during the Chinese New Year. Its name comes from the Hokkien Chinese words: 'ti' and 'ke,' which together means “sweet cake”. It is considered good luck to eat nian gao during this time, because nian gao is a homonym for "higher year." The Chinese word 粘 (nián), meaning "sticky", is identical in sound to 年, meaning "year", and the word 糕 (gāo), meaning "cake" is identical in sound to 高, meaning "high or tall". As such, eating nian gao has the symbolism of raising oneself taller in each coming year (年年高升 niánnián gāoshēng).
