Bribing the Kitchen God

According to a Chinese legend, a week before the New Lunar Year begins, the Kitchen God returns to heaven to report on a family's behavior during the past year. A negative report brings bad luck for the family during the year to come.
In order to ensure a favorable report from the Kitchen God, it has always been a custom to feed him with Rice Cake. Either it was intended as a bribe, or it was just simply a means to have the Kitchen God's mouth full, too full to pass on an unfavorable report...