Sticky and fragrant with Hanoi green rice flavor

Don’t Hanoi’s young rice have to wait until autumn comes to greet us with the invitation “Who wants young rice…”? I remember asking my close friend that in surprise and then being surprised to hear him say that the off-season young rice has been in season since April and is abundant at the street vendors’ stalls .

Young rice, the pearls of heaven, is carefully harvested by farmers before the harsh sunlight. The rice is cleaned thoroughly, placed on a cast iron pan, stirred evenly, and then pounded. At the right time, not too young but not too old, the rice will produce a batch of fragrant, sticky green rice for customers.

The scent of young rice grains incubated in old lotus leaves sows nostalgia in the hearts of Vietnamese people who turn to the capital. I remember back then, when you returned from Hanoi to Hue, you always wrapped a few packages of young rice to bring back, affectionately giving them to everyone, also spreading the rustic culture of Hanoi.

You said that Hanoi green rice can be used to make countless delicious dishes, from sweet green rice pudding, fragrant green rice sausage, crispy grilled green rice cake to green rice stir-fried with coconut water, sticky rice with green rice cooked with mung beans, lotus seeds and grated coconut... Green rice has gone from a rustic gift from the countryside to a specialty, elevating Vietnamese cuisine since when!

You left school a long time ago, sometimes we still gather to remind each other of the packages of green rice with the fragrant scent of new rice and imagine the pretty mouth and sweet voice of our Hanoi friend every time she hums the pride of a child of Hanoi, as if showing off and inviting:

“Com Vong, Me Tri fragrant rice

What could be better than tamarind sauce and Lang basil...

The other day, an acquaintance missed a business trip to Hanoi, causing me to miss the chance to enjoy fresh green rice cakes in lotus leaves, rich in color, aroma, and flavor. Passing by a Hanoi specialty stall in the heart of the city, I suddenly remembered my mother and aunts who loved green rice cakes with mung beans, sipping them with a cool cup of tea to dispel the heat of a hot summer afternoon.

Putting the box of green bean sticky rice cake in my bag, I imagined the sweet taste on the tip of my tongue and the faint aroma in my nose. My mother and aunts must have smiled brightly when they saw the cool green color of the green rice cake hidden behind the fragrant sticky rice cake.

In the afternoon, gathering in Hue to enjoy the sweet, cool, and fragrant flavor of each green sticky rice cake makes people feel a gentle happiness...