Hanoi recently seems more sleepy and lazy in the groomy days of winter. The cold now running and taking all the smallest corners of this city. Its low grey sky and the worse covid situation make me want to go back to these peace days in Autumn with high blue sky, dry and sunny, not too hot.
And my nose, my mouth is hungry the good smell and taste of typical food at that time, we call it as Autumn’s gift: Cốm – Green sticky rice.
Cốm – Green sticky rice is a flattened rice dish which was made from young sticky rice. It is complicated to make this one, all are hard-working handmade steps so we usually buy Cốm from Vòng village – the most famous place with historical traditional to make that food. Or anywhere in the road of Hanoi in Autumn time, you can see old women who have a small weight scale, a pannier with lotus leaves covering something inside… This is the “Cốm” you are looking for.
Cốm usually be served with red persimmons or riped bananas or makes other dishes as xôi cốm (green sticky rice), cốm xào (browned green sticky rice), bánh cốm (green sticky rice cake)…
Cốm – original one – is wrapped in lotus leaves, eaten by hand, a pinch at a time. You can not eat it quick, that food should be chew slowly to feel the sweet taste, fragance from the milk of young rice, feel like the scent of green rice.
I found a box of frozen Cốm in my refrigerator so today I will share with you my home-cooked Xôi cốm – Green sticky rice recipe.
This dish includes original taste of Cốm and also bean and coconut flavor.
1. Ingredients: for 2 people
. 180gram Cốm – green sticky rice
. 250gram fresh grated coconut
. 40gram sugar
. 35ml coconut cream
. 40gram peeled beans
. 200ml water
You can use steaming pot or lazily do as what I did: use microwave with a cup of water inside.
2. How to make Xôi cốm – Green sticky rice:
Step 1: Un-frozen cốm then separate if they stick together as big balls.
Pour coconut cream into cốm, mix them well and set up steaming pot. Or put them in a glass bowl, cover by plastic wrapping then make some holes to let it take some moist from the cup as I mentioned.
If you use steaming pot, be careful and should use a spoon/spatula and stir cốm to let them be cooked well, not over moisturized.
Step 2: Use a pot and 200ml water to cook peeled beans. Stir it until the beans are cooked softly, you can crushed it and water is disappeared.
Use a pestle or flour rolling pin to crush the boiled beans simply. Set it aside.
Step 3: Put grated fresh coconut and 30gram sugar on a pan then stir it with medium heat until the coconut change from white to clear white. Sugar is melted and dried back, dipped in cooked coconut.
Step 4: When cốm is finished steaming, keep it warm to not let it be hard again. Use last 10gram sugar to mix with cốm, then add crushed beans, cooked sweet coconut together.
Mix, mix and mix…
Finally, you got your delicious home-cooked Xôi cốm now~
Eating every small chew and enjoy the sweet and nutty flavor from both cốm, coconut and sugar combination, you can feel how appreciated from the one who cooked it for you and also a part of Vietnamese soul is trying to gravitate you.
Autumn time seems already back my room and hope you can feel a bit of it, a little beautiful Vietnam in me, in my home-cooked things.
Have a nice weekend!
-Jessica-