Originally from China, it spread to or gave rise to related rice cakes in Southeast Asian countries and Sri Lanka due to overseas Chinese influences.

The agricultural text Qimin Yaoshu, written during that time, referenced an older recipe book Shi Ci (食次) and the glutinous rice dish, ye (䊦): "Use glutinous rice flour, sieve with silk cloth, add water and honey, use hand to knead the dough, making two-inch squares, cut to four sticks, put date and chestnut meat on and under the sticks, grease around, cover with bamboo leaves, steam thoroughly, set aside two hours, if the leaves are still on, ripped off, set the sticks free."

As a gift item, nian gao are fashioned into different shapes with attractive packaging to suit the festive season.

Popular designs include a pair of carps (年年有餘) symbolizing surplus every year, ingots (元寶), or the God of Wealth (財神).

The next stage is optional, as it can be sliced and be pan-fried afterwards, often with egg, to make fried nian gao (Chinese: 煎年糕; pinyin: jiān nián gāo; Jyutping: zin1 nin4 gou1).

People also send pieces of nian gao to their friends and relatives as wishes for prosperity and good fortune.

Nian gao is white along the lower reaches of the Yangtze River (the Jiangnan region), and it is a mild food.

In East Java, this cake was named kue keranjang because the wrapper is made from a bamboo basket with a little hole in the middle.

In Japan, mochi is a similar glutinous rice cake eaten primarily for the Japanese New Year.

In Korea, tteokguk, a soup dish that uses the garae-tteok similar to the Shanghai variety of nián gāo, is traditionally eaten during the Korean New Year.

It is popular during the Lunar or Chinese New Year and was culturally assimilated within the population's own cooking techniques through trade networks between the Philippines and Hokkien-speaking regions such as Fujian and Taiwan.

Tikoy may be eaten as is, but can also be dipped in beaten egg and lightly pan fried until crispy, but still chewy inside.

Tikoy can also be consumed as an ingredient in the Filipino dessert called turon or be eaten with ice cream and chocolate or covered with grated coconut flesh and peanuts.

[10] In Sri Lanka, seenakku (Sinhala: සීනක්කු) is of Malay origin and derives from the influences of the Peranakan Chinese who settled on the island during Dutch rule.

[11][12] Seenakku is a popular sweet among the country's Sinhalese and Sri Lankan Malay communities and is served with grated coconut.

[11] Seenakku is called cheena kueh by the Sri Lankan Malay community, with its name reflecting its Chinese origin.

Traditionally, it is made with rice flour, sweetened with sugar (sometimes honey), and uses orange zest as the key ingredient.