Thursday, February 07, 2008 So: 'Tikoy,' the utilitarian By Michelle P. So Caught in the Net
THE Chinese New Year frees us of coming up with personal resolutions. But its symbol, the tikoy, binds us to 50 pounds and three inches around the waist for the next six months.
I just bound myself to that clause, no thanks to the tikoy that I had the canteen guys dip in batter and deep-fry and I had served as 3 p.m. snacks in the Cebu newsroom yesterday. The reporters asked how tikoy is eaten and I, an expert on food, dispensed tips on that and its other uses.
Today starts the new lunar year in the Chinese calendar. If we were in China, we’d be feeling the first wisps of spring air. But since we’re not, we find ourselves getting hot as the summer months arrive before Valentine’s Day.
In the Chinese celebration of the New Year, tikoy or nian gao is given as a present. It shows the giver’s goodwill and the receiver’s place in the giver’s heart. So let me take this chance to thank Joseph and Gloria Gaisano for the special tikoy. If I heard it right, they will give me White Gold Club upon my retirement at 65. If this happens, I will send them a more special tikoy.
It is Chinese tradition to return a favor by topping the gift of the giver who, upon receiving your gift, will top your gift, which you will top again with another gift until one of you decides that you need to return the tikoy that started it all.
Ousted Speaker Jose de Venecia and the Arroyos ought to do exchange tikoy and see who keels over first. For political occasions, tikoy can be laced with Dora, the rat killer. It is apropos because 2008 is the year of the rat.
Tikoy is the fruit cake of the Chinese and is heavy enough to be used as a dumb bell. (So if you see Chinese men with large biceps, chances are they’ve been lifting tikoy.) It is ubiquitous in many Chinese households and offices at this time of the year.
In Chinese households, tikoy is offered to the Kitchen God who many of us Amy Tan lovers encountered through his wife. The Kitchen God partakes of the tikoy, although nobody sees him actually eating it. Truth be told, nobody has actually seen him. If the tikoy is to his liking, your family earns his favor. He will bring you luck and prosperity the whole year through or until he gets your next tikoy.
Not everyone likes tikoy, a pudding made of glutinous rice, corn starch, vegetable oil, coconut milk and sugar. It’s gummy and sweet. I like it not just for its taste but also for the spirit of the occasion and the wish for prosperity that comes with receiving and then eating it. I’ve seen how it has made my body prosperous. The greeting of Kung Hei Fat Choi! is so appropriate it makes me feel like smacking the greeter with tikoy.
Primarily to be digested, the tikoy has other reasons for being. It is utilitarian.
Due to its weight, a big tikoy can be used as an anchor of a baloto, a banca that fits only one person. The tikoy gets heavier when it’s soaked. In water, it can be used as fish bait.
It can also be used as a chair cushion but you have to cover it with a non-stain, waterproof material. You don’t want your butt looking like you’ve just sat on, well, tikoy. And for the less endowed ladies, tikoy can be used as breast enhancers. It feels like gel and is firm to the touch. Parang tunay. Promise.
And don’t forget the dumb bell function. Kung hei fat choi!
