Got leftover tikoy? Here are 5 delightful recipes you can try

Tikoy Toffee Pudding

by Chef Carl Josh Dy

Tikoy Toffee Pudding is Chef Carl Josh Dy's take on the British classic—the traditional date sponge—through his Chinoy lens.

"As someone with Chinoy heritage, food has always been a language of memory and identity for me. Tikoy represents celebration, family, and tradition—a constant presence during Chinese New Year and special gatherings. At the same time, growing up and working in diverse food environments exposed me to Western comfort classics, with British Sticky Toffee Pudding standing out for its warmth, generosity, and emotional pull," he told PhilSTAR L!fe.

"My career experiences in food and hospitality taught me to respect technique while telling personal stories through flavor. This dish reflects that philosophy: taking a well-loved British pudding structure, reinterpreting it through the ingredients I grew up with, and finishing it with Philippine mangoes—a flavor deeply tied to my roots and sense of home," he continued.

Ingredients for the Tikoy Coconut Pudding:

• Grated tikoy – 200g
• All-purpose flour – 120g
• Baking powder – 1 tsp
• Dark muscovado sugar – 120g
• Eggs – 2
• Coconut cream – 120ml
• Unsalted butter (melted) – 80g
• Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
• Salt – a pinch

Procedure: Whisk eggs and muscovado sugar until glossy. Fold in coconut cream, melted butter, and vanilla. Sift in flour, baking powder, and salt, then gently fold in grated tikoy. Pour into greased ramekins and steam for 25–30 minutes until set and springy. 

Ingredients for the Muscovado Coconut Toffee Sauce and optional Mango Puree:

• Dark muscovado sugar – 150g
• Coconut cream – 200ml
• Unsalted butter – 60g
• Pandan leaf (optional)
• Sea salt – a pinch
• Fresh ripe Philippine mango, diced
• Lime zest – a small pinch
• Calamansi or cane vinegar and sugar (optional)

Procedure: Simmer all ingredients gently for 10-12 minutes, stirring until glossy and thick. Top it with diced Philippine mangoes and lime zest. If you want to elevate it further, add warm mango purée by mixing a little calamansi or cane vinegar and sugar until lightly thickened.

Black Sesame-Coated Tikoy

by Chef Tricia Kua

"I love that you don't need to be Chinese to enjoy tikoy now, thanks to long-standing Chinese-Filipino ties. It shows up in offices, neighborhoods, and family gatherings—gifted and shared," she told L!fe.

Kua's favorite tikoy recipe involves turning it into rolls and coating it in black and white sesame.

Ingredients:

• White tikoy, cut into squares
• Flour
• Egg
• Black and white sesame
• Bread crumbs
• Cooking oil
• Condensed milk
• Coconut milk
• Philippine mangoes

Procedure: Cut white tikoy into squares, then dip it into the flour and egg. Mix some black and white sesame into a bowl, and add some bread crumbs. Dip it again into the mixture of sesame and breadcrumbs, then fry it until golden brown. For the coconut mango sauce, you need to mix condensed milk with coconut milk and mangoes. Then you are ready to serve it for your friends and family to enjoy.

Tikoy Peanut Roll

by Abigail See, owner of Zendy's Special Tikoy

See owns Zendy's Special Tikoy, which is distributed by Peotraco Food Inc. She told L!fe that her favorite tikoy recipe is the Tikoy Peanut Roll, which she also sometimes enjoys with ube halaya instead of peanut butter.

Ingredients:

• White tikoy
• Peanut butter – 1 cup
• Roasted peanuts, ground – 3/4 cup​​

Procedure: Prepare the peanut coating by roasting the peanuts in a preheated oven at 180°C for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Once cooled completely, grind the peanuts using a blender or food processor, then set aside.
Slice the tikoy lengthwise about 4-5 mm thick, and arrange on a parchment paper lightly brushed with oil to prevent sticking.
Steam the tikoy for 10-15 minutes or until soft and translucent.
Transfer peanut butter into a pastry bag, and then pipe 1-2 tablespoons of peanut butter onto each steamed tikoy, and carefully roll them into logs.
Roll the tikoy logs in ground peanuts until fully coated. Serve and enjoy.

Ginataang Tikoy

by Chef Aldrich Lee

Chef Aldrich Lee, who owns Grand House in San Juan, also shared with L!fe his recipe for Ginataang Tikoy, good for two.

Ingredients:

• Saging na saba – 80g 
• Kamote – 80g 
• Cassava – 80g 
• Tikoy (cut into small pieces) – 100g 
• Langka – 50g
• Glutinous rice flour – 200g
• Ube food coloring – 2 drops
• Coconut milk – 500ml
• Sugar – 225g
• Tapioca pearls – 200g
• Salt – a pinch
• Pandan leaf – 1 pc
• Tikoy deep fried with egg for topping – 30g

Procedure:

1. Prep the bilo-bilo and other ingredients. Mix glutinous rice flour with water, then add 2 drops of food coloring. Roll into your desired ball shape and set on a tray. Chop all other ingredients into your desired size (around 1 inch).
2. Boil the coconut milk. Once the coconut milk is boiling, slowly add the bilo-bilo to cook it. Add all other ingredients and mix continuously, and make sure to never stop stirring to avoid burning. Once cooked, leave it in the pot.
3. Fry the garnish. Slice 2 thin tikoy slices. Dip both tikoy in egg yolk to coat. Fry.
4. Serve in a bowl of your choice then enjoy.

Tikoy a la Mode

by Chef Sharwin Tee

Chef Sharwin Tee enjoys cooking tikoy with his waffle iron. "This method gives me contrasting textures of crispy and chewy, and contrasting temperatures of warm and cold, with the ice cream. Unless you have a heart of stone, your inner child cheers for anything in waffle form," he told L!fe.

Ingredients:

• White tikoy
• Cooking oil
• Ice cream

Procedure: Brush some oil on a slice of tikoy and cook it in the waffle iron for about 3-4 minutes. Let it stand on a cooling rack for 1 minute for it to crisp up. It becomes crisp on the outside and still chewy on the inside. Serve it with a scoop of ice cream.