Vibrantly red, flavored with coconut milk and Vietnamese gac fruit, this xoi gac or Vietnamese baby jackfruit sticky rice is as easy to make as it is delicious. It wouldn’t be tết or Vietnamese Lunar New Year without xôi gấc.
Tết is just around the corner! That means preparing our stomachs to eat all of our favorite traditional lunar new year foods that we get to indulge in for luck, prosperity, and happiness in the new year!
The first lunar new year recipe on deck is this beautiful red and lucky xôi gấc or Vietnamese red sticky rice. The brilliant red color of this glutinous rice recipe is made naturally from the gac fruit also known as a baby jackfruit. This steamed sticky rice is also lightly sweetened with coconut milk and sugar for an incredibly simple yet delicious culinary experience.
Xoi gac is one of my all-time favorite tết dishes. I would always grab a giant serving with a few pieces of cha lua and happily eat it in my corner every year. I hope you’ll love this easy sticky rice recipe as much as I do! If you loved this Lunar new year inspired recipe, check out my thit kho trung, banh chung, pineapple tarts, and Chinese almond cookies.
Table of Contents
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy. This glutinous rice recipe is probably one of the easiest Vietnamese sticky rice recipes you will ever make. The hardest part is sourcing the gac!
- Delicious. This xoi gac is packed with real gac pulp and coconut flavor. Pair this easy sticky rice recipe with your favorite protein or cha lua and you have got yourself a tasty meal.
- Lucky. Make this vibrantly red xoi gac for a year of luck, fortune, and happiness!
🍽 Kitchen Equipment
- Fine Mesh Strainer: you will need a fine mesh strainer to wash your sticky rice.
- Mixing Bowls: mixing bowls are necessary to soak the rice and mix up the gac paste.
- Steamer: you will need a steamer to cook your coconut sticky rice. You can either use a stainless steel steamer or a bamboo steamer.
What is Gấc?
Gấc is a type of melon grown in Southeast Asian countries. It is known for its red-orange vibrant color. Gac is also known as baby jackfruit, spiny bitter gourd, sweet gourd, and cochinchin gourd. It has been traditionally used as both food and medicine in Vietnam.
🛒 Ingredients
You can find all of these ingredients for this glutinous rice recipe at your local Vietnamese grocery store around the Lunar new year time.
- Glutinous sticky rice: or sticky rice is going to be the base of this glutinous sticky rice recipe. For this sticky rice recipe, I used Thai sticky rice for longer grains than the other types of sticky rice.
- Gac fruit seeds: this will probably be the hardest ingredient to source. The Vietnamese grocery store will sometimes sell gac in the produce section in the weeks leading up to Lunar New Year. Alternatively, you can find it in the frozen aisle either as a whole fruit or just the seeds.
- Rice wine: a splash of rice wine brightens the flavor of the gac and adds a subtle sweetness to the steamed sticky rice.
- Salt: a pinch of salt brings out the other flavors of this easy sticky rice recipe.
- Vegetable oil, Canola Oil, or Avocado Oil: the oil prevents the rice from being overly sticky with each other and becoming too gummy when steamed.
- Coconut milk: make sure to use whole-fat coconut milk for the best coconut sticky rice. My favorite brand to use for the best flavor is Chef’s Choice.
- Sugar: a touch of sugar sweetens the rice and balances out the flavor of the coconut milk.
✨ Additions
You can serve this glutinous rice recipe with a variety of toppings that I’ve listed below.
- Gio or Cha Lua (Vietnamese steamed pork)
- Shredded Coconut
- Sesame seeds and sugar
- Crushed peanuts, sesame seeds, and salt
📝 How to Make Xoi Gac
This xoi gac recipe is a very easy sticky rice recipe. The hardest part is remembering to soak your sticky rice in advance before you begin!
- Wash and soak the rice. Place the glutinous sticky rice in a fine mesh strainer and rinse under cold water until the water runs clear. Then transfer the rice to a large bowl and add enough cold water to cover the rice by at least 2 inches. Let the rice soak for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Drain the rice. Drain the rice through a fine mesh strainer and return to a large mixing bowl.
- Mix the gac paste. Add the gac seeds, rice wine, vegetable oil, and salt into a medium bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon until the gac paste separates from the black seeds and a paste forms.
- Mix together. Add the gac paste into the bowl of rice and mix until the grains of rice are evenly coated. Set aside for 15 minutes for the paste to soak into the rice.
- Steam. Set up a steamer with water and bring the water to a boil on medium-high heat. Transfer the rice to a steamer basket lined with parchment paper or a banana leaf. Steam over medium heat for 20-25 minutes. Every 10 minutes gently stir the rice. Wipe off any water condensation on the lid and check the water level and add more water as needed.
- Mix the coconut sugar. In a small bowl mix the coconut milk and sugar until the sugar dissolves. After 20 minutes, slowly drizzle the coconut sugar onto the rice and stir until evenly combined. Cover and steam for an additional 15 minutes or until soft.
- Serve. Remove the rice from the steamer and place a dried gac seed on top. You can top it with sesame seeds and a sprinkle of sugar and serve with it with cha lua (Vietnamese steamed pork).
⭐️ Tips for the Best Xoi Gac
- Wash your sticky rice! Washing your rice removes any excess starches and remaining debris from the rice. If the sticky rice is not washed before it is cooked, the grains could stick to each other and lead to a very gummy texture.
- Soak the sticky rice with water before you begin. Soaking the rice guarantees that the rice grains will absorb moisture evenly and will also cook evenly when steamed.
- Mix the gac until it turns into a paste. Make sure that you continue to mix the Vietnamese baby jackfruit seeds until it turns into a paste and all the black seeds have separated from the pulp.
- Add sugar to taste. If you prefer sweeter steamed sticky rice, then add another 1-2 teaspoons of sugar over the top of the Vietnamese sticky rice to finish.
- Place one gac seed on top of the rice. This will show that you made the rice with the actual fruit and not with food coloring.
🥡 Storage Instructions
You can store any leftover Vietnamese sticky rice in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The steamed sticky rice may dry out in the refrigerator over time. To reheat, simply drop a few drops of water over the coconut sticky rice and cover it with a damp paper towel, and heat in the microwave until warm. Alternatively, you can steam the rice until warm as well.
💬 Frequently Asked Q’s & A’s
You can serve xoi gac on its own or you can pair the Vietnamese sticky rice with giò lua or cha lua also known as Vietnamese steamed pork deli meat, with muối vừng crushed peanuts, a sesame and salt mixture, or with any protein of your choice.
Xoi gac plays an important role in Vietnamese culture since it appears at every wedding, Lunar New Year, and other important events. The history of xoi gac dates back to the time where Vietnamese people worshipped Mother Nature and the gods that control their agriculture. The red color symbolizes luck, fortune, and happiness.
Sourcing gac may be difficult to find in months that are not near the lunar new year. Sometimes in Vietnamese grocery markets near the lunar new year, there will be fresh gac fruit in the produce aisle. Other times, there may be frozen whole gac fruit or just the seeds packaged in the frozen aisle.
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👩🏻🍳 Recipe
Xôi Gấc (Vietnamese Red Sticky Rice)
Ingredients
- 2 cup (397 g) glutinous sticky rice
- 1 ½ cup (230 g) gac fruit seeds
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) rice wine
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons (10 g) vegetable oil
- ⅓ (80 g) cup coconut milk whole fat
- 2 tablespoon (25 g) sugar
Instructions
- Wash and soak the rice. Place the glutinous sticky rice in a fine mesh strainer and rinse under cold water until the water runs clear. Then transfer the rice to a large bowl and add enough cold water to cover the rice by at least 2 inches. Let the rice soak for at least 4 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
- Drain the rice. Drain the rice through a fine mesh strainer and return to a large mixing bowl.
- Mix the gac paste. Add the gac seeds, rice wine, vegetable oil and salt into a medium bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon until the gac paste separates from the black seeds and a paste forms.
- Mix together. Add the gac paste into the bowl of rice and mix until the grains of rice are evenly coated. Set aside for 15 minutes for the paste to soak into the rice.
- Steam. Set up a steamer with water and bring the water to a boil on medium-high heat. Transfer the rice to a steamer basket lined with parchment paper or a banana leaf. Steam over medium heat for 20-25 minutes. Every 10 minutes gently stir the rice. Wipe off any water condensation on the lid and check the water level and add more water as needed.
- Mix the coconut and sugar. In a small bowl mix the coconut milk and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. After 20 minutes, slowly drizzle the coconut mixture onto the rice and stir until evenly combined. Cover and steam for an additional 15 minutes or until soft and cooked.
- Serve. Remove the rice from the steamer and place a dried gac seed on top. You can top it with sesame seeds and a sprinkle of sugar and serve with cha lua (Vietnamese steamed pork).
Notes
- Wash your sticky rice! Washing your rice removes any excess starches and remaining debris from the rice. If the sticky rice is not washed before it is cooked, the grains could stick to each other and lead to a very gummy texture.
- Soak the sticky rice with water before you begin. Soaking the rice guarantees that the rice grains will absorb moisture evenly and will also cook evenly when steamed.
- Mix the gac until it turns into a paste. Make sure that you continue to mix the Vietnamese baby jackfruit seeds until it turns into a paste.
- Add sugar to taste. If you prefer sweeter steamed sticky rice, then add another 1-2 teaspoons of sugar over the top of the Vietnamese sticky rice to finish.
- Place one gac seed on top of the rice. This shows that the rice was made with the actual fruit and not with food coloring.
- Storage: You can store any leftover Vietnamese sticky rice in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The steamed sticky rice may dry out in the refrigerator over time. To reheat, simply drop a few drops of water over the coconut sticky rice and cover it with a damp paper towel, and heat in the microwave until warm. Alternatively, you can steam the rice until warm as well.
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