The charm of Hanoi cuisine
Xoi che has always been a delicate dish, imbued with the soul of Hanoi. Only appearing on important occasions, xoi che is considered a noble dish, showing the respect of Hanoians for culinary traditions. To have a pot of sticky, fragrant, and flavorful sticky rice, one must have extensive experience and skillful hands. Each grain of sticky rice is a small work of art, carrying the soul of the cook.
The dish is a combination of sticky rice and sweet soup. There are many types of sweet soup to eat with sticky rice, but the most popular is probably green bean sweet soup. Green bean sweet soup has common and easy-to-buy ingredients, but the preparation is quite elaborate and meticulous. According to some owners of traditional sticky rice and sweet soup shops in Hanoi, to have delicious bowls of sticky rice and sweet soup, from the stage of choosing the ingredients to making the dish, each step is done meticulously and carefully.
Xoi che, a rustic yet attractive dish, has become a symbol of Vietnamese cuisine.
Sticky rice for making sticky rice is yellow sticky rice, the grains are even and round. The yellow sticky rice is soaked overnight, cleaned, drained and then buried in a dry and clean cloth until the grains are completely dry before being mixed with a little salt for flavor. Green beans are small, yellow-fleshed and fragrant green beans, completely eliminating the broken beans. The beans are crushed, soaked with rice in salt water for 4-6 hours, cleaned and drained. The green beans are hulled, steamed, and a small portion is set aside to be placed in the bowl of sweet soup, and the rest is crushed into a smooth paste.
There are many types of sweet soup eaten with sticky rice, but the most popular is probably green bean sweet soup.
Use half of the ground beans, mix well with the sticky rice and steam until the rice is soft. Scoop the cooked sticky rice onto a tray, let it cool, add the remaining ground beans and mix well to separate the grains, then steam a second time until the sticky rice is plump and plump.
The beans are crushed and soaked with rice in salt water for 4-6 hours, cleaned and drained.
When the sticky rice is cooked, take it out onto a tray and knead it a third time so that the beans stick to each grain of sticky rice. When mixing the mung beans with the sticky rice, you have to be very skillful so that the rice grains are mixed evenly with the mung beans, each grain is covered with a layer of smooth yellow mung bean. Only then, when the sticky rice is finished, the sticky rice grains will not clump together. The cooked sticky rice is taken down, scooped onto a tray, and stirred evenly while using a fan to fan the sticky rice to cool quickly and separate the grains. Each ripe sticky rice grain falls apart, when held in the hand, it has a smooth, chewy texture and the fragrant smell of sticky rice mixed with mung beans.
To cook sweet soup, people can use tapioca starch, tapioca starch and rice vermicelli starch. The starch is dissolved in cold water. Boil the sugar water, then slowly pour in the starch water and stir until the starch changes from opaque white to clear and thick. Turn off the stove and add the steamed whole mung beans to the pot and stir well.
The sweetness of Vu Lan season of filial piety
Vu Lan season is here, on the street corners of Hanoi, the strong aroma of sticky rice mixed with the sweet taste of areca flower sweet soup seems to bring us back to our childhood. Fragrant trays of sticky rice and bowls of cold areca flower sweet soup are displayed, stirring up many childhood memories in the hearts of Hanoians.
Sticky rice with sweet soup, a rustic yet sophisticated dish, is made from familiar ingredients. Through the skillful hands and delicate souls of Hanoians, this dish has become a unique culinary work of art. Each grain of sticky rice is a small story about the sophistication of Hanoians. The refreshing taste of sweet soup blends with the rich taste of beans, creating a unique culinary symphony.
Savoring the soft, creamy sticky rice grains, enough to seduce the human taste buds, along with a bowl of elegant sweet soup, some sweet, some rich, but each flavor is just there and not there; stories about sticky rice and areca flower sweet soup, the nostalgic feelings about these two special gifts, are "confessed", mixed with the nods and attentive, appreciative eyes of the participants.
For pagodas, in addition to elaborate vegetarian offerings, since ancient times, people have also offered simple trays of sticky rice and sweet soup, expressing their heartfelt gratitude to monks, ancestors, etc. That is why the duo of sticky rice and sweet soup is often associated with the offerings on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month and Vu Lan festival of the people of Hanoi in the past.
Fragrant raspberries and cold bowls of areca flower sweet soup are displayed, stirring up many childhood memories.
The aroma of sticky rice and cau flower sweet soup is like a greeting for Vu Lan season, reminding us of traditional values. Although modern life has changed a lot, Vu Lan and July Full Moon feasts still cannot lack the presence of the duo of sticky rice and cau flower sweet soup. Street vendors and sidewalk sticky rice shops are even more bustling with bowls of fragrant sticky rice and cold cups of cau flower sweet soup. With affordable prices, only from 15,000 VND to 20,000 VND, everyone can enjoy this rustic and meaningful dish.
The ghost month, which is inherently sad, becomes unusually warm thanks to two sacred ceremonies. Besides the sincere respect for ancestors, the seventh month also shows the kindness and warm humanity of the nation. The seventh month rituals, simple yet profound, are the connecting thread between today's generation and ancestors. Interpreted in a delicate, unpretentious way, passed down from generation to generation, the Vietnamese cultural sentiment has perhaps never ceased to be attractive. The seventh month is more beautiful because of that.
