← Nouns Cooking · Vietnamese

Ingredients

• 400 g glutinous (sticky) rice
• ½ tsp Salt
• 6 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 3 tbsp Dried shrimp
• 2 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 3 Shallot, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
• 3 Chinese sausages (lạp xưởng), thinly sliced on the diagonal
• 250 g boneless chicken thigh, cut into small pieces
• 1 tbsp Fish sauce
• 1½ tbsp Soy sauce
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 3 Spring onion, thinly sliced
• 3 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp Crispy fried shallots (optional)
• chilli sauce, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Rinse the sticky rice until the water runs clear, then cover with plenty of cold water and soak for 4 hours or overnight.
2. About 30 min before cooking, soak the shiitake and dried shrimp in warm water. Drain, squeeze the mushrooms dry and slice them.
3. Drain the rice, toss with the salt and spread it in a steamer basket lined with a damp cloth or baking paper. Steam over boiling water for 25–30 min, sprinkling with a little water halfway, until tender and chewy all the way through.
4. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat and fry the shallots and garlic for 2 min. Add the sausage for 2 min until the fat runs, then the chicken for 5 min until cooked through.
5. Add the shiitake and shrimp with the fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar and stir-fry for 2 min until glossy and fragrant.
6. For the scallion oil, heat the oil until shimmering and pour it over the spring onion in a heatproof bowl.
7. Fold half the topping through the hot rice, pile the rest on top and spoon over the scallion oil. Finish with fried shallots and serve with chilli sauce.

Tips

• Soy sauce contains wheat; use tamari for gluten-free sticky rice (and check your sausages).
• Wrapped tightly, leftover xôi reheats well in the microwave with a damp paper towel over it.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Vicky Pham Marion's Kitchen