2014 Chinese New Year Revelry in Chinatown, Manila

We are now in the year of the Wooden Horse.  Chinese new year fell on January 31, 2014 and my family decided to troop to Binondo and join the festivities in Chinatown. The first time we went there to celebrate was last 2012 CNY, which I also featured here.  And let me tell you again, for those who do not know, we have the oldest Chinatown in the world, established in 1594.  Binondo, Manila is most alive this time of the year as the event attracts people from all walks of life, even tourists.

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Panko-Crusted Tikoy Sticks

I am a tikoy addict.  I posted my first tikoy feature here and even shared some trivia about this sticky snack, so this will be a quick post as we welcome the Chinese New Year.  This 2013, the first day of the Year of the Water Snake falls on February 10.

As a Filipino-Chinese, we get to enjoy this traditional glutenous delight every Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year.  Here we have our large white tikoy, and regular 1-kilo brown tikoy.

You know, you can actually eat this straight from the pack since this was already cooked by steaming.  But where's the fun in that, right? =)  Which now brings me to this crunchy tikoy snack.

PANKO-CRUSTED TIKOY

Tikoy
Flour
Egg
Panko bread crumbs
oil

Cut the tikoy in thick sticks.
Heat oil in a pan, or use deep fryer.
Dredge in flour, dip in egg, then coat with panko.
Fry until golden.
Place on tissue to absorb excess oil and cool for a few minutes.

The girl can't wait for it to cool and decided she'll be "a dog" and bite off a piece from the edge of the crunchy tikoy stick! =)

I found out, after cooking at 5pm last weekend, this panko-custed tikoy is still crunchy until 7pm!  I just left them on a plate at room temperature while we prepared for dinner.

I now have 2 ways to cook crunchy tikoy:

1 - Lumpiang tikoy, plain or cheekoy (cheesy tikoy)

2 - Coated in crispy panko - another scrumptious way of celebrating the coming Chinese New Year!

Click here for the other Tikoy posts:

Lumpiang Tikoy and some fun facts

Lumpiang Cheekoy

Check out our festive Chinese New Year "adventure" in Chinatown last year.

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Down in Chinatown on Chinese New Year 2012

Gong Xi Fa Cai, hong bao na lai!
Kiong Hee Huat Tsai! 
Kong Hei Fat Choi! 
Happy Chinese New Year!

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2012 Official Philippine Holidays

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!


First post of the year and I'm already thinking of the next holiday. To all Philippine residents, I'm excited to share and remind you of the regular and special holidays for this year -- all 16 of them!

As declared by the office of the president, there will be six long weekends for this year 2012 -- the longest of which is 5 days straight during Holy Week until Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Bravery).
One down, 15 more to look forward to:

• January 1 (Sunday) :  New Year's Day
• January 23 (Monday) :  Chinese New Year
• February 25 (Saturday) :  EDSA Revolution Anniversary (Special holiday for all schools)
• April 5 (Thursday) :  Maundy Thursday
• April 6 (Friday) :  Good Friday
• April 9 (Monday) :  Araw ng Kagitingan
• May 1 (Tuesday) :  Labor Day
• June 12 (Tuesday) :  Independence Day
• August 20 (Monday) : Eid Al Fitr *
• August 21 (Tuesday) :  Ninoy Aquino Day
• August 27 (Monday) :  National Heroes Day
• November 1 (Thursday) :  All Saints Day
• November 2 (Friday) :  Additional special (non-working) day
• November 30 (Friday) :  Bonifacio Day
• December 25 (Tuesday) :  Christmas Day
• December 30 (Sunday) :  Rizal Day
• December 31 (Monday) :  Last Day of the Year

Next up is Chinese New Year!!!
As a Filipino-Chinese, I am happy that the government has finally recognized the auspicious celebration of Chinese New Year.  This has been long overdue, in my opinion, considering a big part of the Philippine population is of Chinese decent, and the country has deep-rooted Chinese cultural influence. The first day of the Chinese lunar year of the water Dragon falls on 23rd of January -- now declared special non-working holiday. (Date will change every year depending on the lunar calendar). We plan to bring the kids to Chinatown for the first time this year, so that is something we're really excited about.

Mark your calendars!

Free printable calendar from www.dreamstime.com

Time to plan the next vacation folks! =)

Reference:
Proclamation No. 295

p.s.
Thanks to reader Kat, I was reminded of the Muslim special holidays which were not included in the 2012 official list.
I believe dates also vary every year for those special days which are based on the Islamic calendar.  It was declared in previous years that the end of Ramadan (Eid ul-Fitr) and the Feast of Sacrifice (Eid-ul-Adha) are regular holidays as well.
2012 : Ramadan falls sometime in August;  Festival of Sacrifice falls sometime in October.

* Update
Holiday for end of Ramadan - August 20, 2012
4-Day Weekend (Aug. 18 - 21)!!!

I'd love to know your thoughts on this post.  
If you enjoyed this, feel free to share it!
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Mom-Friday's Lumpiang Cheekoy (Tikoy-Cheese Sticks)

Kid#1 - eating cheese stick
Kid#2 - eating lumpiang tikoy
Me - Tikoy+Cheese+Lumpia wrapper =Accidentally yummy-freaky goodness! 

That was my shout-out at my Facebook page yesterday after cooking those snacks for the kids. This surprise happened while I was frying my favorite lumpiang tikoy first, then followed by the cheese sticks requested by the girl. With the last tikoy stick still frying, I continued with the cheese sticks in the same pan and accidentally left it too long. So, the Quickmelt cheese filling slowly oozed out and stick to the tikoy frying beside it. In short, I have to eat those two rejects and unknowingly created this gooey-chewy-yummy mutation of this lumpia snack, a delicious disaster which I now dare claim and name christen as Mom-Friday's Lumpiang Tikoy at Keso Cheekoy (many thanks to Pia for suggesting the name, genius!)

To document my new-found foodie discovery, and satiate our cravings, I recreated the lumpiang tikoy for our afternoon snack, only this time, I did it the proper way with the tikoy and cheese cuts wrapped together in a spring roll shell, then fried.  I used Hongley tikoy (the best brand in my book!) and our pantry staple Magnolia Quickmelt cheese.

Don't freak out if you find some cheese oozing out from the corners while it cooks. It means it's ready, even though the shell may not be as golden as desired.

Literally, you'll taste the 'best of both worlds' in one bite -- the creamy, mildly salted Quickmelt cheese binding onto the sweet, fragrant, and chewy tikoy, with a burst of texture from the crisp lumpia wrapper. Plus, the savory aroma of fried cheese drippings compound the gooey-goodness of this wicked combo!

Who knew this cooking accident can create a scrumptious and oh-so-addictive delicacy!  I can eat this Lumpiang Cheekoy everyday! If you are lucky to still have some tikoy lying around the house, go try it now!!! (pardon my abusive use of exclamation points)

So what is lumpiang tikoy? Here's the post:
Lumpiang Tikoy recipe


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Chinese New Year Horoscopes for the Year of the White Metal Rabbit

KUNG HEI FAT CHOI!
May the peace-loving Rabbit hop into your lives, bringing love and good fortune this year!
Happy Chinese New Year of the Metal Rabbit!

If you want to learn about your 2011 Chinese horoscopes, here's a general guide from gotohoroscope.com:
RAT - 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008
OX - 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009
TIGER - 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010
RABBIT - 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011
DRAGON - 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012
SNAKE - 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013
HORSE - 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954,1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014
SHEEP - 1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015
MONKEY - 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016
ROOSTER - 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017
DOG - 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018
PIG - 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019

Note that each year, the first day of the Chinese lunar calendar falls on a different date on our Roman calendar. So, even when you were born, say, in 1973, the year of the Ox officially starts February 3, 1973 and not on January 1 of that year. Incidentally, that's the same day as this year's! That's good news to those born in 1973 if you want to know when your Chinese birthday is. Check any calendar with Chinese dates to find out because this 2011, your birthday falls on the same date of the lunar calendar in 1973! So mark that date 'coz that's your Chinese birthday.

Today also happens to be hubby's birthday, so hugs and kisses to J, from me, the boy and the girl! He also celebrates his Chinese birthday today since he was born on the first day of the year of the Ox. Now do the math if you want to know how old he is! LOL!




Related post:
Enjoy your "tikoy"/ sweet glutinous rice cake fried in spring roll wrapper!


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Enter the Year of The Tiger with Lumpiang Tikoy

Occupying the third position in Chinese Astrology, the Tiger symbolizes power and authority, competitiveness and unpredictability. Tigers can be good leaders. They will also accept any challenge to protect loved ones and their honor. Don’t let their calm appearance fool you as Tigers will pounce when they feel it’s necessary.

Tomorrow evening, we shall usher in the year of the Metal Tiger with traditional Chinese practices and festivities for an auspicious new year. On Sunday, February 14, 2010 marks the first day of the Tiger year.  Here in the Philippines, when one receives tikoy from Chinese friends, we know that new year is just around the corner.

Traditionally, you don't buy your own tikoy.  But sometimes, you just can't wait for someone to hand you that ubiquitous red box, and you just have to buy one yourself and indulge in that gooey, chewy, sweet delicacy that abound during this time of the year. You can say tikoy is a seasonal treat but it takes many forms and you can readily buy a variety of tikoy products in your local Chinese deli or bakery.

Tikoy (loose translation: sweet cake) is a sweet confection made from glutinous rice flour, sugar and water, pounded and mixed until smooth.  Then, it's steamed in a mold, cooled, wrapped in plastic, and placed in a bright red box with the Chinese symbol for luck.

Why tikoy for new year?  Well, here's a simple rationale:  Tikoy is made to be sweet and sticky.  The giver wishes for the recepient to have a "sweet and harmonious family life" and for "good fortune to stick" to them in the coming new year. For the Filipino interpretation, "isang matamis na pag-sasama at kapitan ng swerte sa bagong taon".

As with most people, the way we cook our sliced tikoy is to dip in egg first, then fry. When I saw my son's pre-school teachers prepare the tikoy during their Chinese New Year school celebration some years back, I thought it was brilliant! It makes cooking tikoy easier, without the mess, and eating it is so much more pleasurable.  I am a self-confessed tikoy addict. Since then, I cook them like a spring roll.

Here's my favorite Lumpiang Tikoy:

To prepare:
Simply slice the tikoy and cut like large french fries. Set aside.
Peel small sheets of spring roll wrapper, one for each tikoy stick.
In a small sauce bowl, mix 1 teaspoon cornstarch diluted in 2 teaspoons water. This will serve as your paste or binder.

Wrap each tikoy stick carefully.
Hold the end while you dip you finger in the cornstarch water and swipe to seal the tip of the wrapper.
Set aside all the wrapped tikoy.

To cook:
Heat cooking oil in a pan.
Before oil reaches smoking point, fry your lumpiang tikoy.
Turn and cook until golden brown.

Don't worry how long you should cook this, the tikoy was already cooked/steamed from wherever factory it came from before it was even packed.

When done, drain and rest the rolls on paper towels to absorb excess oils.
Serve and savor!

 

This was the first time the kids have tried eating this sweet, sticky confection in a crunchy form. They loved it!  Even with a front tooth missing, it did not stop my boy from biting and munching several sticks until he got so full from this snack.

Nowadays, the tikoy not only appears in white and brown (brown sugar is used), but also comes in different colors and flavors like ube (purple yam), pandan (in green), strawberry (in pink)!

A unique innovation from the plain tikoy was this new discovery at the Savemore grocery's bakery section today.  Introducing HOPTIK -- hopia at tikoy. Give it to the Pinoys when naming special food combinations. Hoptik is your typical flakey hopia (Fujian pastry with monggo/mung bean paste filling) on the outside AND stuffed with soft, chewy tikoy center. Imagine that! At P32 per pack of 4, I bought the Ube flavor which had a middle layer of ube paste instead of the regular monggo filling.  I ate two in one sitting and it was delightful and filling!

 

With the many incarnations of this humble tikoy, I hope you get to try the Lumpiang Tikoy 'coz I'm sure, you will enjoy its crunch and chewy goodness as much as we did. The kids just can't get enough of it. Gone are the days when you fry gooey tikoy squares that become too oily and flat when served, and will stick to your plate and fork while you eat.

Happy eating. From my family to yours, we wish you peace, harmony, good health and prosperity in the Year of the metal Tiger!

Wanna bite?

And here's my CHEESY TIKOY -- try it!

References:
www.chinesezodiac.com
www.chinesefortunecalendar.com


I'd love to know your thoughts on this post.  If you enjoyed this, feel free to share it!
Get instant updates:
My Mom-Friday on Facebook
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Also on Google Friend Connect, or Subscribe Via Email. I try my best to reply and answer any questions you may have on each entry so check back if you've left one. Thank you and do visit again! (Comments with links will automatically be flagged by Disqus.)

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