Xoi vo is a traditional Vietnamese sticky rice dish, especially popular in the North and South during holidays, Tet, or simply as a daily breakfast.
Main ingredients:
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Sticky rice: usually use yellow sticky rice or other delicious sticky rice.
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Green beans: peeled green beans (peeled), steamed and mashed.
How to prepare (summary):
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Soak sticky rice and green beans: Soak sticky rice for a few hours until soft, soak green beans and steam until cooked.
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Steamed sticky rice: Steam sticky rice until cooked (usually steamed twice to make the sticky rice grains loose and dry).
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Mixed beans: When the sticky rice is still hot, add mashed green beans, shake well so that the sticky rice grains are coated with a layer of smooth beans.
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Result: Sticky rice is fluffy, dry, and the grains are separate — not sticky, not wet, and has a beautiful golden color from the mung beans.
Characteristics:
- Sticky rice is fluffy, separate — completely different from other sticky rice varieties such as sticky rice with beans and sticky rice with gac.
- Has a light aroma of sticky rice and the rich taste of mung beans.
- Usually eaten with sesame salt, pork sausage, or glutinous rice with gac (variation with added gac).
Variations:
- Gac sticky rice: add gac to get a beautiful red color, often used during Tet or weddings.
- Peanut sticky rice: add crushed roasted peanuts for a richer flavor.
How to make Hanoi-style sticky rice
Sticky rice is considered the pinnacle of Trang An cuisine, only available during Tet. The meticulousness and care create fragrant ‘golden silver’ grains that anyone who enjoys them will remember forever.
How to make
- Choose and soak rice: In the past, Hanoi women chose rice to steam sticky rice very carefully, usually golden flower sticky rice or plump velvet sticky rice, so that when steamed, the sticky rice will be fragrant and dry. Wash the sticky rice and soak it in cold water for 6-8 hours so that the sticky rice absorbs the water. After soaking, rinse it lightly and spread it on a bamboo basket with a towel underneath, and let it dry. This is the secret to making sticky rice so that the grains will be separate and not sticky.
- Choose and soak green beans: Choose green beans that are small like peppercorns, with a bright yellow color inside. Green beans with shells have a stronger flavor and a more natural aroma. Soak the beans for 4 hours until soft, then remove the shells and wash them thoroughly until the water is clear. Because if the water is still cloudy, the sticky rice will easily go sour when left for a long time. Then, pour the beans into a basket to drain.
- Cook green beans: Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt, mix well with the green beans, then put them in a steamer. Be careful to use chopsticks to poke holes to let steam escape, helping the beans cook evenly without getting too soft and mushy. After 15 - 20 minutes, the beans are cooked, and when you feel it is soft and smooth, it is done.
- Scoop out a small amount of mung beans and pound them while they are hot to quickly smooth them. If you let them cool, they will be heavy and very difficult to pound. Wear gloves and form the beans into smooth, firm balls like when making sticky rice.
- Washing rice and beans for the first time: According to the old experience of mothers, to make delicious sticky rice, you must go through “3 washes and 2 fires”, which means washing green beans and rice 3 times and steaming sticky rice 2 times. Washing rice and beans for the first time: After drying the rice, spread it out on a tray, use a sharp knife to thinly slice 1/2 of the mung beans into smooth slices to cover the rice, wear gloves and knead gently so that the beans mix well with the sticky rice. Do this repeatedly until finished.
- Steaming sticky rice with fire 1: Boil water in a steamer/steamer, put in a piece of gauze, then pour the rice and beans into the steamer, use chopsticks to poke a few large holes to release heat and air evenly, then steam the sticky rice. Cover the top with a piece of gauze to prevent water from condensing and dripping down, making the sticky rice soggy. Occasionally open the lid to drain off some of the evaporated steam that has gathered on the lid, stir the sticky rice to cook evenly. After 30 - 35 minutes, when the sticky rice is fragrant and about 75 - 80% cooked, scoop it out onto a tray and spread it evenly.
- Additional spices: When the sticky rice is warm, add 2 - 3 tablespoons of sugar (adjust the amount according to personal taste) and sprinkle evenly so that the sugar dissolves and soaks into the surface of the sticky rice, creating a sticky layer when kneading the beans a second time.
- Knead the sticky rice and beans a second time: Continue to peel/thinly slice the remaining green beans to cover the sticky rice. Wear gloves and knead gently a second time to mix the beans with the sticky rice. Sprinkle some chicken fat, beat well to make the sticky rice shiny when steaming on the second fire.
- Steaming sticky rice on the second fire, kneading beans for the third time: Continue to put the sticky rice on a gauze cloth and put it in the steamer/steamer on the second fire for 15-20 minutes so that the sticky rice is cooked deeply, the sticky rice grains will expand and be supple even if left outside for a long time, they will not be hard or hard. When the sticky rice is cooked, use chopsticks to scoop it out onto a tray and spread it out to cool down, then continue wearing gloves and knead it gently for the third time so that the beans are evenly coated and cover each white sticky rice grain inside.
- Finished product requirements: Each glutinous rice grain is covered with a smooth, apricot-yellow green bean layer, enveloping each plump, soft glutinous rice grain inside, which is likened to ‘gold wrapped in silver’ (gold wrapped in silver). When eaten, the rich, chewy taste, a little sweetness, and a harmonious blend of flavors. The glutinous rice looks simple on the outside but contains the sophistication and delicacy of Hanoi people.
Note:
- The secret to making the glutinous rice dry on the outside but still soft and sticky on the inside is the 3 rules of soaking - drying - steaming the glutinous rice. Green beans are also elaborate with 5 steps of soaking - drying - steaming - pounding - wrapping.
- The reason it is called xoi vo is because it is necessary to knead the beans with sticky rice 3 times to make them stick together smoothly, each grain is dry.
- To keep the sticky rice soft and plump for a long time, it must be steamed twice.
- Depending on your taste, adjust the amount of sugar and sweetness according to your personal taste.
- In addition to Hanoi xoi vo, people in the South also have xoi vo with their own regional characteristics when adding coconut milk to create an unforgettable fatty taste.
How to cook sweet, fatty, fragrant Southern sticky rice
Ingredients for cooking sticky rice
- Glutinous rice: 300gr
- Peeled green beans: 150gr
- Cooking oil: 1 teaspoon
- Coconut milk: 1 tablespoon
- Pandan leaves: 5 leaves
- Seasonings for making sticky rice: salt (1/4 teaspoon), sugar (1 teaspoon).
Steps
Step 1: Prepare ingredients for making sticky rice
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For preparing sticky rice and green beans, you do the same as cooking Northern-style sticky rice.
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Then, you pound 1 turmeric branch, filter the water and mix it with cold water when soaking the rice. Thus, when drained, both the rice and green beans will have a more attractive yellow color.
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For coconut milk, you can use ready-made canned coconut milk or squeeze it yourself from grated coconut (boil to get the milk).
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Finally, in the step of preparing the ingredients, you wash the pandan leaves and let them drain.
The main ingredients to make Southern-style sticky rice are still sticky rice and peeled green beans
The main ingredients to make Southern-style sticky rice are still sticky rice and peeled green beans (Source: Internet)
Step 2: Process green beans to make Southern-style sticky rice
The method is similar to processing green beans to make Northern-style sticky rice.
Step 3: Cook Southern-style sticky rice with a fragrant, fatty taste
Mix the sticky rice with 1 part of the pureed green beans. Then, sprinkle a little salt on the sticky rice to reduce the blandness, arrange pandan leaves on top of the sticky rice and steam it in a pot of boiling water. After about 25-30 minutes, open the lid, use a ladle to stir evenly and sprinkle coconut milk evenly on the sticky rice. However, be careful not to put too much coconut milk on the sticky rice to avoid making it mushy. Then, cover the lid and continue to cook for about 7-10 minutes so that the sticky rice is cooked and absorbs the coconut milk evenly.
Then, pour the sticky rice onto a tray or large plate, sprinkle sugar and use gloves to mix the sticky rice with the sugar (do not add too much sugar to avoid clumping the sticky rice when the sugar cools). Until the sticky rice cools down, the grains are loose and smooth, then sprinkle the remaining ½ of the pureed mung beans on the sticky rice. Thus, you have completed the process of cooking the fragrant, sweet, fatty sticky rice dish of the South (while the North will have the salty taste of salt and cooking oil).
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