Xoi ngu sac used to be served on special occasions, but is a daily dish in the northern region now (Photo: monan9.com) Hanoi (VNA) - If rice is Vietnam’s staple crop, xoi (steamed stickyrice) is the nation’s choice dish, as much as the famous pho (rice noodlesoup), if not more so.
It is abreakfast favourite, and the most popular snack or meal at late night or in earlydawn.
It is soldby vendors in early morning markets and it can be found in fanciest restaurantsserving traditional Vietnamese food.
There areany numbers of specialty xoi restaurants, as well as pushcarts that stand on street corners or bicycles that go around the streets wellpast midnight, long after restaurants and other eateries have closed.
Xoi, as the name suggests, is made withglutinous rice, steamed or cooked. There are those who love having this regularlyfor breakfast and those who have it at any time of the day or night, but almostevery Vietnamese will have it at least once a month.
But xoi isnot one dish. There are many varieties, each with its distinct taste, colourand/or flavour.
Each regionhas its own special xoi dishes. Vegans and vegetarians can enjoy xoi with muoivung (ground sesame and peanuts) or sugar, while others have a widerange of meat choices, including xoi thit kho tau (stickyrice with Chinese braised pork) and xoi with liver pate,sausage, fried eggs, char siu, chickens or roasted pigeons.
Sticky rice with char siu and roasted chicken (Photo: afamily.com) On full moondays, New Year holidays, weddings, death anniversaries and otheroccasions, xoi is a must-have dish on the feast’s platters.
The ways tomake sticky rice depend on the variety, family recipes or individual creativitythat housewives bring into play.
However, themost popular method is to soak the glutinous rice in warm water for many hoursuntil it expands; wash and mix the rice with a little salt and otheringredients separately; place them in an autoclave; pour boiling water into thebottom of the autoclave and place it on a pot so that the ingredients aresteamed without touching the water.
Later, thesealed autoclave and the pot are placed on a stove and boiled over low heatuntil the sticky rice is well-cooked and limber.
Now, busywomen use electric rice cookers with the steaming function, but the majoritypreference is for xoi cooked the traditional way.
Among the numerous types of xoi, Xoi dau xanh (green bean sticky rice) is one ofthe most popular because it can be served with many differentingredients, including meat. Since it is easy to cook, it is a popular choiceamong housewives as well.
This dish ismade by chafing the green beans (mung beans), soaking them in water for aroundfive hours (often left overnight), hulling (or not), mixing them with glutinousrice, and steaming them in an autoclave.
Otherpopular xoi varieties include xoi xeo (turmericflavoured sticky rice served with powdered green beans and topped with friedshallots), xoi lac (sticky rice withpeanuts), xoi ngo (stick rice with corn) and xoi dau den (sticky rice withblack beans).
Anotherreason for its popularity is that while it is very tasty, it is alsohealthy, starched but not fatty.
Xoi ngu sac (five-coloured sticky rice) isusually made by several ethnic minority communities, in the northern region.
The fivecolours of the dish symbolise five elements: yellow is the colour of land;green the colour of wood; red, fire; white, metal; and black, water. Thesecommunities have their own secrets, using different herbs and wild vegetablesto dye the sticky rice and create these colours.
In thepast, xoi ngu sac was only served on important occasions likefestivals, ceremonies and weddings. It has become a very popular daily dishnow, and a marker of the host’s hospitality.
Sticky rice with chicken and salad is popular in the central region (Photo: monngon.vn) For makingthe red-coloured sticky rice, the bright red flesh of the ripe gac (spinybittergourd or cochinchin gourd) fruit is used. This fruit has beentraditionally used as both food and medicine in Vietnam.
Turmeric isused to make the yellow sticky rice, la cam (a herb) for purple, the ash ofburned ginger leaves for black, and the pandan leaf for green. The glutinousrice is soaked in water mixed with the above ingredients.
Xoi ga (chickensticky rice) is particularly liked in the central region. Visitors to Da Nang,Hoi An and Hue also favour this dish because it is delicious and can be packedeasily.
The dish isfatty and nutritious. Chicken is boiled with a pinch of turmeric. The chickenbroth is then used to cook the glutinous rice, giving the rice its yellowcolour and its butter taste.
The boiledchicken is shredded by hand into thin slices and mixed with salt, pepper,sliced onions and Vietnamese mint. The dish is finally topped with scallionoil.
This is abalanced dish, with protein from the chicken, lipid from the chicken broth,starch from glutinous rice and vitamins from herbs and the accompanying salad.
Xoi man is a southern treat, favoured again for its taste,nutritional values and affordable prices.
“Man”means salty, literally, but here it means savory, distinguish it from theseveral sweet sticky rice recipes.
This is ahearty all-in-one meal with sticky rice and various kinds of meat including Chinesesausage, shredded chicken, liver pate, char siu, ruoc or chabong (dried shredded pork/chicken), and dried shrimp.
Although styrofoam boxes and plastic is used to pack xoi now, mostof the individual sellers, in the morning in particular, offer the choice ofgetting your xoi fix in a banana leaf, which adds an extraflavour to the dish.-VNA
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