Hanoi (VNA) - If rice is Vietnam’s staple crop, xoi (stickyrice) is the nation’s choice dish, as much as the famous pho (rice noodlesoup), if not more so.

It is a breakfastfavourite, and the most popular late night-early dawn snack or meal.

It is sold by vendors inearly morning markets and it can be found in fanciest restaurants servingtraditional Vietnamese food.

There are any number ofspecialty xoi restaurants, as well as push carts that stand onstreet corners or bicycles that go around the streets well past midnight, longafter restaurants and other eateries have closed.

Xoi, as the name suggests, is made with glutinousrice, steamed or cooked. There are those who love having this regularly forbreakfast 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.

Food expert Vo Quoc, headof Mon Ngon Restaurant and Cooking Class, said: “Each region has its own(collection of) xoi dishes. Vegans and vegetarians can enjoy xoi with muoivung (groundsesame and peanuts) or sugar, while others have a wide range of meat choices,including xoi thitkho tau (sticky rice withChinese braised pork) and xoi with liver pate, sausage, friedeggs, char siu, chickens or roasted piegons.”

On full moon days, NewYear holidays, weddings, death anniversaries and other occasions, xoi isa must-have dish on the feast’s platters.

The ways to make stickyrice depend on the variety, family recipes or individual creativity thathousewives bring into play.

However, the mostpopular method is to soak the glutinous rice in warm water for many hours untilit expands; wash and mix the rice with a little salt and other ingredientsseparately; place them in an autoclave (called cho in thenorth and xung in the south); pour boiling water into thebottom of the autoclave and place it on a pot so that the ingredients aresteamed without touching the water.

Later, the sealedautoclave and the pot are placed on a stove and boiled over low heat until thesticky rice is well-cooked and limber.

Now, busy women useelectric rice cookers with the steaming function, but the majority preferenceis for xoi cooked the traditional way.

Most popular

Xoi dau xanh (green bean sticky rice) is one of themost popular xoi dishes because it can be served with manydifferent ingredients, including meat. Since it is easy to cook, it is apopular choice among housewives as well.

This dish is made bychafing the green beans (mung beans), soaking them in water for around fivehours (often left overnight), hulling (or not), mixing them with glutinousrice, and steaming them in an autoclave.

Other popular xoi varietiesinclude xoi xeo (turmeric flavoured sticky riceserved with powdered green beans and topped with fried shallots), xoi lac (stickyrice with peanuts), xoi ngo (stick rice with corn)and xoi dau den (stickyrice with black beans).

Another reason forits popularity is that while it is very tasty, it is also healthy,starched but not fatty.

Getting colourful

Xoi ngu sac (five-coloured sticky rice) is usuallymade by several ethnic minority communities, in the northern region.

The five colours of thedish symbolise five elements: yellow is the colour of land; green the colour ofwood; red, fire; white, metal; and black, water. These communities have theirown secrets, using different herbs and wild vegetables to dye the sticky riceand create these colours.

In the past, xoingusac was only served on important occasions like festivals, ceremoniesand weddings. It has become a very popular daily dish now, and a marker of thehost’s hospitality.

For making thered-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 is used to makethe yellow sticky rice, la cam (a herb) for purple, the ash of burned gingerleaves for black, and the pandan leaf for green. The glutinous rice is soakedin water mixed with the above ingredients.

Sticking with chicken

Xoi ga (chicken sticky rice) is particularlyliked in the central region. Visitors to Da Nang, Hoi An and Hue also favourthis dish because it is delicious and can be packed easily.

The dish is fatty andnutritious. Chicken is boiled with a pinch of turmeric. The chicken broth isthen used to cook the glutinous rice, giving the rice its yellow colour and itsbutter taste.

The boiled chicken isshredded by hand into thin slices and mixed with salt, pepper, sliced onionsand Vietnamese mint. The dish is finally topped with scallion oil.

This is a balanced dish,with protein from the chicken, lipid from the chicken broth, starch fromglutinous rice and vitamins from herbs and the accompanying salad.

Meaty variety

Xoi man is a southerntreat, favoured again for its taste, nutritional values and affordable prices.

“Man” meanssalty, literally, but here it means savory, distinguish it from the severalsweet sticky rice recipes.

This is a heartyall-in-one meal with sticky rice and various kinds of meat including lap suon(Chinese sausage), shredded chicken, liver pate, char siu, ruoc or chabong (dried shredded pork/chicken), and dried shrimp.

Nguyen Ha Ngan, 26, a HCMCity resident, said she can eat sticky rice for breakfast, lunch, dinner and asa late-night snack because of its taste and convenience. It’s also cheap, shesaid. She can fill her stomach with a 20,000 VND (0.9 USD) portion.

“My favourite xoi shopis located on the ground floor of the Ba Chieu Market which remains open fromafternoon until midnight,” she said.

Sticky rice here isserved with char siu and roasted chicken which is tender, juicyand flavourful.

The dish is topped withscallion oil and a special sauce made by the seller herself from juiceextracted during the process of roasting the chicken. This particular secretrecipe involves a special way of mixing it with green chili slices.

Although styrofoam boxesand plastic is used to pack xoi now, most of the individual sellers, in themorning in particular, offer the choice of getting your xoi fix in a banana leaf, which adds an extra flavourto the dish.-VNA