Bamboo shoot sticky rice is cooked from fragrant sticky rice and fresh bamboo shoots from the forest. Therefore, each bowl of bamboo shoot sticky rice looks quite simple, consisting only of cooked sticky rice and stir-fried bamboo shoots on top. Kon Tum people like spicy food, so each bowl also has a red chili, not fussy but eye-catching and attractive. According to many people in Kon Tum, the whole city has only two sticky rice shops, the shop of a Hue mother who has been selling for more than 30 years and the shop of a newly opened daughter. Although not prepared by the same person, the bamboo shoot sticky rice at both shops is equally delicious, making everyone excited and satisfied.
The way to make sticky rice with bamboo shoots is quite simple and not too fussy. Fresh bamboo shoots after being dug up in the forest, peel off the outer skin, wash and cut into bite-sized pieces. After the preliminary processing to remove the pungent smell, the bamboo shoots are stir-fried with spices to become rich. Selected good sticky rice is soaked in diluted salt water mixed with turmeric powder to color for about 8 hours, then steamed.
Early in the morning, the seller places a large hot sticky rice tray with a pot of stir-fried bamboo shoots and some fresh banana leaves to wrap for customers who want to take away. Customers only need to spend 7,000 VND, those who eat a lot can buy about 10,000 VND to have a cheap and delicious breakfast. However, if that is all, the sticky rice with bamboo shoots in Kon Tum is still not attractive enough. Besides stir-fried bamboo shoots, the seller also cleverly prepares braised fish and bamboo shoot porridge to add more variety. So the sticky rice shop has an additional menu for customers to choose from. Those who like vegetarian food can choose sticky rice with bamboo shoots, those who like mixed food can order braised fish with bamboo shoots, or children can have breakfast with bamboo shoot porridge with their parents.
On full moon days or vegetarian days, braised fish is replaced by tofu. Customers can order sticky rice with bamboo shoots and beans or bean porridge to change the taste, which is also delicious and no less attractive. If the crunchy taste of bamboo shoots combined with the sticky taste of sticky rice and the rich taste of braised fish is enough to attract customers, then when replacing fish with beans, the taste becomes even more strange. That is why by 7am every day, the sticky rice is gone, leaving only bamboo shoot porridge. And this delicious dish is only sold for about an hour more. At that time, anyone who wants to try it again will have to wait until the next day.
With its own unique charm of color with a bit of bright yellow of wild bamboo shoots, placed on a bowl of turmeric-colored sticky rice, bamboo shoot sticky rice attracts passersby with its special aroma, making many people linger just to buy a package of sticky rice in time for work. Accidentally, this delicious dish becomes the thing to hold people back once passing through the Central Highlands mountain town.
