What to know about all kinds of steamed sticky rice in Saigon

Although not a premium dish, but steamed sticky rice is an indispensable food in the culinary culture of Saigon.

In Saigon, as soon as you have just wake up, you can heard the familiar street cries “Dose anybody want to buy steamed sticky rice?” of the street vendor right in the beginning of alley. Then, you just need from 5,000 VND to 10,000 VND to get a delicious and hot steamed sticky rice bag for a good breakfast. With the local people here, steamed sticky rice is very familiar, not only delicious but also convenient, suitable for the dynamic and rush life of the Saigon.

Two main kinds of Steamed sticky rice

Steamed sticky rice of Saigon people are simple with two kinds: sweet steamed sticky rice and salty steamed sticky rice. However, sweet steamed sticky rice attracts people by the variety and fatty, sweet taste of steamed sticky rice with corn, peanut, black beans, durians, Cam sticky rice, Gac Fruit … Conversely, salty steamed sticky rice have few kinds such as chicken, sausage, jerky… but also make people love them with rich and delicious flavor.

There are many kinds of steamed sticky rice, but all of them are made from fresh sticky rice. Depending on the type that the seller add more other ingredients such as corn, black beans, green beans … Steamed sticky rice is cooked well-done, add a little sesame salt, coconut meat and you have delicious sweet steamed sticky rice. Particularly for salty steamed sticky rice, the ingredients are often rich with roasted shrimp, pate, grease and onion, sausage, pork, chicken…

Cadé steamed sticky rice

In addition to the two kinds of steamed sticky rice above, fried sticky rice or cadé sticky rice is also not to be missed. Cadé steamed sticky rice is made from combining of sticky rice, coconut milk, egg yolk, durian… The most important part of making up this famous dish is the cadé. Cadé is a mixture of ingredients such as eggs, sugar, coconut milk, durian in a very personal formula. The first, people took chicken egg yolks, adding some coconut milk and stir slightly. Next, they add durian, white sugar or palm sugar and continue to stir until the ingredients dissolve. Then, they put cadé in a tray and then steamed. Cooked cadé has the yellow color of egg yolk that looks very nice, with fatty taste and characteristic aroma. In addition to cadé steamed sticky rice, this dish is also added with a little bit of sesame salt and copra to bring the taste of fat.

Fried and steamed sticky rice

Fried and steamed sticky rice is considered a favorite dish not only for the students but also the office staffs who love the great and crunchy taste. Processing of fried sticky rice is quite picky. After sticky rice is steamed, people cut it in a half and put the mixture of mushrooms, cassava, minced pork, mixed together with spices: salt, sugar, pepper, onions…, add a little chili sauce to get a delicious snack. This is a very special but rustic snack, which you should try while traveling in Ho Chi Minh City.

And some kinds of steamed sticky rice come from the North Vietnam

Besides, the appearance of other kinds of steamed sticky rice from the North such as: mung bean coated sticky rice, cuc steamed sticky rice… make “the world of steamed sticky rice ” in Ho Chi Minh city become rich, diverse, delicious and attractive.

Mung bean coated sticky rice

The yellow color of the sticky rice was made of “danh danh” leaves, now that leaves are rare and people replace it with turmeric juice, not chemical color, so mung bean coated sticky rice is yellow and fragrant without harm.

Fried fat is covered on steamed glutinous rice being a unique combination of taste -color – scent into the sophistication. Therefore, mung bean coated sticky rice is one of the hardest dishes in cooking, although the ingredients are quite simple.

The steamed sticky rice is made of sticky rice which is sticky but mung bean coated sticky rice is not sticky enough. The sticky rice is still fragrant, still soft but each grain is smooth and separated from each other.

Cuc steamed sticky rice

Cuc steamed sticky rice is a kind of cake originated from the northern delta of Vietnam, made of Khuc vegetable leaves (there are two types of Khuc vegetables are Khuc Te and Khuc Nep leaves sometimes called Khuc Ong and Khuc Ba, but when making Cuc, people usually choose Khuc Nep vegetables, because it is more delicious), sticky rice, green beans, pork fat. Cuc steamed sticky rice is usually made in season of Khuc vegetables – the occasion of February, March of lunar calendar.

In Hanoi, Cuc steamed sticky rice is often offered for sale in the evenings, and the sellers (usually men) put the basket on their heads, walk along the streets and advertise ” Do you buy Cuc steamed sticky rice?” and many different ways of proclamation with a very distinctive tone became characteristic of Hanoians.

The main ingredient to make the taste of Cuc steamed sticky rice is vegetable. Fresh Khuc vegetables, picked from the early morning, steamed and then refried, mixed with rice flour to make outer layer of the cake. The pie filler is made from green peas, soaked in water, steamed, grind into flour, mixed with pork, sprinkled with some pepper and make the round shape. Another type is using banana leaves to wrap the mixture and steam it, but the way of raw steaming is common and many people know it. The time between boiling water and finishing is about 45 minutes.