Xoi Gac is a semi-sweet dish made from steamed glutinous rice that has been tossed in coconut milk and naturally colored orange-red from the gac fruit.
The color red is symbolic of good fortune in Vietnamese culture, which is why Xoi Gac is mainly served during special occasions such as Lunar New Year.
This dish is often eaten with a mixture of sugar, salt, and toasted sesame seeds (muoi me). Xoi Gac is also a popular street food and can be more elaborately dressed with sweetened mung bean paste, toasted peanuts, and freshly grated coconut — all wrapped in an edible wafer paper.
Xoi Gac features the intense orange-reddish color from the gac fruit. This fruit is also known as baby jackfruit, but don’t mistaken it with the jackfruit with the sweet yellow pulp.
Other common names include Spiny Bitter Gourd, Sweet Gourd and Cochinchin Gourd. Because the gac fruit originated in Vietnam, it’s more known by its Vietnamese name, Gac.
The pulp is collected from the fruit then blended into a homogenous paste. This pulp gives a bright red-orange color and a subtle aroma and flavor to Xoi Gac.
Because the aroma and flavor are quite subtle, you can also use food coloring as a substitute.
The large black seed in the middle of the pulp is often saved to top the sweet rice as an indication of authenticity — that natural food coloring from the gac fruit was used.
Gac fruit is widely available in Vietnam but not here in the States. I have yet to find a fresh gac fruit where I live in California. And if I do, it would most likely cost a fortune,
I, however, can find reasonably priced frozen gac fruit pulp in the frozen aisle of my local Vietnamese grocery store, which is good enough.
Vietnamese Red Sticky Rice (Xôi Gấc)
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
A Vietnamese dessert made from steamed glutinous rice, coconut milk, and gac fruit for its orange-red color. Typically served during Lunar New Year celebrations, but you can enjoy it anytime as a sweet treat.
Ingredients
Xoi
- 1 1/2 lbs sweet/glutinous rice grains
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
- 1/3 cup granulated white sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 cup gac fruit paste
Xoi Muoi Me Topping (Optional)
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Rinse: Rinse the rice grains in a colander until water runs clear then soak for 3 hours in plenty of water. Drain then transfer to a large mixing bowl,
- Season and color: Add salt and gac fruit paste. Mix until all the grains are colored and evenly seasoned.
- Steam: Place colored rice into a large steamer in an even layer. Steam for 30 minutes, on medium low heat, covered.
- Add coconut milk and sugar: Carefully remove the lid and mix in coconut milk and sugar until evenly combined. Continue steaming for an additional 15 minutes.
- Serve: Remove rice from the steamer and decorate with the dried gac seed on top to indicate it was naturally colored (optional). Serve as is or with the topping. To make the topping, simply combine toasted sesame seeds, sugar, and salt in a small bowl. Sprinkle the mixture onto the rice before serving.
Notes
You can fancy it up even more with sweetened mung bean paste, toasted chopped peanuts, and freshly grated coconuts.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: dessert
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: asian, vietnamese
