Glutinous Rice - Foods - Vietnamese Traditions

Vietnamese Traditions

Glutinous rice is called "gạo nếp" in Vietnamese. Dishes made from glutinous rice in Vietnam are typically served as desserts or side dishes, but some can be served as main dishes. There is a wide array of glutinous rice dishes in Vietnamese cuisine, the majority of them can be categorized as follows:

• Bánh, the most diverse category, refers to a wide variety of sweet or savoury, distinct cakes, buns, pastries, sandwiches, and food items from Vietnamese cuisine, which may be cooked by steaming, baking, frying, deep-frying, or boiling. It is important to note that not all bánh are made from glutinous rice; they can also be made from ordinary rice flour, cassava flour, taro flour, or tapioca starch. The word "bánh" is also used to refer to certain varieties of noodles in Vietnam, and absolutely not to be confused with glutinous rice dishes. Some bánh dishes that are made from glutinous rice include:
  • Bánh chưng: a square-shaped, boiled glutinous rice dumpling filled with pork and mung bean paste, wrapped in a dong leaf, usually eaten in Vietnamese New Year.
  • Bánh giầy: white, flat, round glutinous rice cake with tough, chewy texture filled with mung bean or served with Vietnamese sausage (chả), usually eaten in Vietnamese New Year with bánh chưng.
  • Bánh dừa: glutinous rice mixed with black bean paste cooked in coconut juice, wrapped in coconut leaf. The filling can be mung bean stir-fried in coconut juice or banana.
  • Bánh rán: a northern Vietnamese dish of deep-fried glutinous rice balls covered with sesame, scented with jasmine flower essence, filled with either sweetened mung bean paste (the sweet version) or chopped meat and mushrooms (the savory version).
  • Bánh cam: a southern Vietnamese version of bánh rán. Unlike bánh rán, bánh cam is coated with a layer of sugary liquid and has no jasmine essence.
  • Bánh trôi: made from glutinous rice mixed with a small portion of ordinary rice flour (the ratio of glutinous rice flour to ordinary rice flour is typically 9:1 or 8:2) filled with sugarcane rock candy.
  • Bánh gai: made from the leaves of the "gai" tree (Boehmeria nivea) dried, boiled, ground into small pieces, then mixed with glutinous rice, wrapped in banana leaf. The filling is made from a mixture of coconut, mung bean, peanuts, winter melon, sesames, and lotus seeds.
  • Bánh cốm: the cake is made from young glutinous rice seeds. The seeds are put into a water pot, stirred on fire, juice extracted from pomelo flower is added. The filling is made from steamed mung bean, scraped coconut, sweetened pumpkin, and sweetened lotus seeds.
  • Other bánh made from glutinous rice are bánh tro, bánh tét, bánh ú, bánh qui, bánh măng, bánh ít, bánh khúc, bánh tổ, bánh in, bánh dẻo, bánh su sê, bánh nổ...
• Xôi are sweet or savory dishes made from steamed glutinous rice and other ingredients. Sweet xôi are typically eaten as breakfast. Savory xôi can be eaten as lunch. Xôi dishes made from glutinous rice include:
  • Xôi lá cẩm: made with the magenta plant.
  • Xôi lá dứa: made with pandan leaf extract for the green color and a distinctive pandan flavor.
  • Xôi chiên phồng: deep-fried glutinous rice patty
  • Xôi gà: made with coconut juice and pandan leaf served with fried or roasted chicken and sausage.
  • Xôi thập cẩm: made with dried shrimp, chicken, Chinese sausage, Vietnamese sausage (chả), peanuts, coconut, onion, fried garlic...
  • Other xôi dishes made from glutinous rice include: xôi lạc, xôi lúa, xôi đậu xanh, xôi nếp than, xôi gấc, xôi vò, xôi sắn, xôi sầu riêng, xôi khúc, xôi xéo, xôi cá, xôi vị...
• Chè refers to any traditional Vietnamese sweetened soup or porridge. Though chè can be made using a wide variety of ingredients, some chè dishes made from glutinous rice include:
  • Chè đậu trắng: made from glutinous rice and black-eyed peas.
  • Chè con ong: made from glutinous rice, ginger root, honey, and molasses.
  • Chè cốm: made from young glutinous rice seeds, kudzu flour, and juice from pomelo flower.
  • Chè xôi nước: balls made from mung bean paste in a shell made of glutinous rice flour; served in a thick clear or brown liquid made of water, sugar, and grated ginger root.
• Cơm nếp: glutinous rice that is cooked in the same way as ordinary rice, except that the water used is flavored by adding salts or by using coconut juice, or soups from chicken broth or pork broth.
• Cơm rượu: Glutinous rice balls cooked and mixed with yeast, served in a small amount of rice wine.
• Cơm lam: Glutinous rice cooked in a tube of bamboo of the genus Neohouzeaua and often served with grilled pork or chicken.

Glutinous rice can also be fermented to make Vietnamese alcoholic beverages, such as rượu nếp, rượu cần and rượu đế.