Gong Xi Fa Cai
This New Year glutinous rice, or sticky, cake or Nian Gao was purchased from a market stall holder, at the Section 17 Market, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
The wrapped cake initially appears quite hard and waxy. But, when cut into slices, thin enough for them to appear translucent, dipped in egg yolk and coated in flour and fried, it transmogrifies into a saccharin-sweet, sticky, gooey substance which the only thing in western cooking that approximates it is a pan-fried jelly baby.
A good Nian Gao is judged by its stickiness, the more gooey the better. During the Lunar New Year celebration it is offered to the Kitchen God to ensure that he doesn’t give a bad report to the Jade Emperor about the householders’ behaviour; as his mouth is stuffed with sticky cake, he is prevented from speaking.