During the Spring Festival period or Chinese New Year, the northerners China people prefer to eat Jiao Zi, but southerners’ people like to eat NianGao, Nian Gao literally mean Year Cake or Chinese new year's cake is made of glutinous rice. Traditionally Nian Guao is the main Chinese New Year cuisine; it is considered good luck to eat Nian Gao during this time. In Chinese, Gao is a homonym for high. Nian Gao is also called Nian Nian Gao, which is a homonym for "higher each year", symbolizing progress and promotion at work and in daily life and improvement in life year by year.

White Rice Cake

Fried Shanghai style Nian Gao

Guangdong Nian Gao

Cantonese style Nian Gao

They are verities of production method to made Nian Gao, however the main ingredient will be the glutinous rice pounded or ground into a paste then mix up with other ingredients and molded into shape then cooked again to settle mixture. Nian Gao also categorized into a few type, such as Shanghai Nian Gao and Cantonese Nian Gao.

The Shanghai style Nian Gao (white rice cake) is usually packaged in a thick soft rod to be sliced up or packaged pre-sliced. In Cantonese sometimes it's known as Pak Kor Meen (gingko nut noodle) which because of the shape of the rice cake. The Shanghai style keeps the Nian Gao white, this color is its distinct feature. Can’t cook these rice cakes straight from the packet. Needed to soak the rice cakes in water overnight or soak in hot water for about 4-5 hours; changing the cooled down water with hot water twice. Next, blanched them in boiling water with a few drops of oil till soften or al dente. Drain off the water and cook. The Nian Gao can either be stir-fried or added to soup. Stir-fry is the most popular cook method; there are three general types. The first is a savory dish; common ingredients include scallions, beef, pork, cabbage etc. The second is a sweet version using standard white sugar. The last version is taste-less, and is often consumed for its chewy textures.

The Cantonese style Nian Gao or Guangdong Nian Gao is a sweet and sticky brown cake, it is made with brown sugar. Dark yellow color is it’s distinct feature. It is a popular Spring Festival treat, made of glutinous rice or millet flour and garnished with anything from bean to jujube paste, assorted fruits and preserves. To make this type of Nian Gao, the paste is poured into a cake pan and steamed once more to settle mixture; steamed until it solidifies and served in thick slices. Cantonese style Nian Gao is stretchy and extremely sticky, some it is also being serve as a pudding flavored with rosewater or red bean paste. Nian Gao often given as a gift, it is delicious when steamed, fried, fried with eggs or even eaten cold. Beside that, another Guangdong cook style is to pan-fry the Nian Gao, thus the Nian Gao have crispy on the outside, and remains pasty on the inside. During festival the Nian Gao is cut into square pieces and served together with other Chinese New Year foods.

Nowadays many local shops have offered a lot of creative modern flavors for Nian Gao. They mixed the cake with different ingredients such as red bean paste or even lotus seed paste. Next is the fried Yam and Nian Gao Sandwich. This sandwich did not use bread , rather a slice of fried yam is sandwiched between two slices of Nian Gao. Coat them with batter and fry till the batter is golden brown. Nian Gao also being use as soup ingredient. When used in soups, it is dropped in and boiled. There is a wide variety of soup that uses Nian Gao.

This type of cake had been traditionally passed down from many generations thousands of years ago. Nian Gao was told a story that Chinese has been using this cake to store as food for winter. This cake can be kept for long time without spoil and it provides energy to our body during winter.

China is a country with enduring cultural history and so the celebrations of New Year in China are swathed in the vivid legends and traditions. There are many traditions associated with the Chinese New Years season or Spring Festival. However, one important tradition takes place before the old year has come to a close. In Chinese folk religion and Chinese mythology, the Kitchen God, named Zao Jun (灶君) or Zao Shen (灶神 literally "stove god"), is the most important of a plethora of Chinese domestic gods (gods of courtyards, wells, doorways, etc.). It is believed that on the twenty third day of the twelfth lunar month, just before Chinese New Year he returns to Heaven to report the activities of every household over the past year to the Jade Emperor (Yu Huang) who rewards or punishes each household accordingly. A negative report by the Kitchen God means a family will suffer from bad luck during the year to come. Thus there is a practice of offering a sacrifice to the Kitchen God during celebrations gets kicked off, the Nian Gao (Chinese New Year Cake) is a sticky cake offered to the Kitchen God during sacrifice. The sticky Cake is steamed and prepared with glutinous rice flour and dried fruit.