The Color of Tết

Firstly, let me explain what Têt is. Têt is essentially Vietnamese New Year, which falls into the same time as the Chinese New Year since we both use lunar calendar. Tet is the celebration of spring and New Year. It is also the most important holiday for us. In my extended family, the preparation for Tet starts at least a month or so before the event. My grandmothers (from both mom’s and dad’s sides) prepare a lot of traditional dishes and sweets for the New Year, then “distribute” to their children’s families. Both of my grandmothers are excellent cook and we all appreciate their efforts to keep the tradition alive.

But this year I won’t be home for Tet due to working commitments. It is very sad indeed since Tet, after all, is the time for family gathering. To compensate a little for this, I will start making a bit more Vietnamese traditional food…

One of the essential Tet dish is this Sweet Red Glutinous Rice – Xôi Gâc. The beautiful red color matches the festive mood perfectly. The color does not come from any chemical food coloring but naturally from a fruit called Gấc. I have looked up on the internet for a common English name for the fruit with no satisfaction. Gac is called Baby Jackfruit, Spiny bitter-cucumber, Chinese bitter-cucumber, Chinese-cucumber etc. Confusing, huh? Anyway, here is a picture of the glorious fruit for your references.

Aren’t they beautiful? Gac is very easy to grow. My family used to grow them in the backyard, and they grew quite rapidly. Gac itself is a wonderful source of Vitamin A so it is recommended to use in poor area where children often lack of Vitamin A.

Back to my Sweet Red Glutinous Rice. Since I cannot find fresh Gac in Melbourne, I used the frozen flesh from Vietnam instead. The result was good, but the color is not as glorious. Nevertheless, I am totally satisfied with the flavor. It is nice, just like the way I had it before!

Sweet Red Glutinous Rice – Xôi Gâc

Ingredients
250g glutinous rice, soaked overnight
1 tsp salt
1 can (500g) of frozen Gac, thawed (or flesh of one fruit)
1 tablespoon of Chinese cooking wine
2 heaped tablespoons of sugar or to taste
2 tablespoons of coconut cream
1-2 tablespoons of canola/corn oil or lard (chicken fat works best!)
1 panda leaf, knotted
Mung bean
120g peeled split mung bean, soaked overnight
2 tablespoons of sugar, or to taste
1 tablespoon of coconut cream
Method
Add salt, cooking wine and Gac flesh to the drained glutinous rice, mix well. Place the rice into a steamer and place a panda leaf onto the surface. Cover and steam over high heat until cooked through (about 15-20 mins)
Meanwhile, drain and steam the mung bean (about 10-15 mins).
When the rice is cooked, take out and let stand for 1-2 mins. Put in sugar, oil and coconut cream, mix carefully and gently. Take care not to mash the rice but separate the grain. Check for sweetness and set aside.
Mash the mung bean, add in the sugar and coconut cream. Mix well.
Serve the rice with some mung bean at room temperature as a snack or part of a meal. The dish is not overly sweet so it can accompany savoury dishes perfectly.

Note
This dish is cooked throughout Vietnam. My version here is from Hanoi, where sweetened mung bean is added.
The coconut cream is added here to enhance the flavour. Traditionally, chicken fat is used.
If you cannot find Gac, some food colouring (red & orange) can be used. But even without Gac, the dish still tastes good!
I moulded the rice using my mini pound cake pan. The traditional way is to use a wooden mould. Always have a layer of mung bean in between two layers of red rice. However, moulding is completely optional and used for presentation only.