Điểm danh các loại xôi ở ĐN - Danang's sticky rice collection

One benefit of starting work early in the morning is to try dishes that I’d rarely woken up early enough to try. The breakfast menu in Da Nang is much more diverse than I expected, especially the awesome hidden collection of sticky rice.

The first must-try is this long-established and very popular pavement stall. I’d heard about it for ages, but the problem was that it is just open 6~8:30ish AM. Many times I rushed there hoping to grab what’s left and found myself disappointed. Thanks to work, I can now enjoy it every morning. Here you can find 4 different types of sticky rice: 1. roasted chicken, 2. braised pork and quail egg, 3. peanuts and sugar, and 4. cotton pork. The first 2 are my favourite. Couple your order with a glass of soya milk, you’ll have the best breakfast at just 20k, enough to keep you energetic for the whole morning at work.

Xôi thịt trứng, sữa đậu nành - Sticky rice with braised pork and quail egg, soya milk

Xôi gà rô ti - Sticky rice with roasted pork

Next is my all time favourite xôi bắp (corn sticky rice). There’s so much going on in one modest serving: sticky rice, sweet corn, roasted corn, mung bean paste, crushed roasted peanuts, sesame, sugar, fresh coconut strips, fried shallot... I'd say this is the best sweet sticky rice dish in Viet Nam.

Xôi bắp - Corn sweet sticky rice

My habit of having xôi vò (mung bean coated sticky rice) for breakfast started since my first employment days. On the way to work I found it nestled in a cafe in one of the busiest streets of Da Nang. Just a handful of sticky rice coated with ground mung bean, a bit of cotton pork and fried shallots on top. Light and simple, cheap and tasty… perfect for those not-so-busy working mornings. 

Xôi vò 

Xôi vò

In the quest for more sticky rice, I happened to find and eat xôi khúc (or xôi cúc) for the first time. This sticky rice originates from the north,  made from glutinous rice powder mixed with brayed khuc leaves, with mung bean and pork fillings. To make xoi khuc, people grind the khuc leaves (jersey cudweed?) up and use the juice to knead sticky rice flour into a dough. The dough coats a ball of savory mung bean paste and pork, which is then laid between thin layers of sticky rice and steamed. The final product includes sticky rice on the outside, so its appearance is like xôi, and a ball of grassy sticky rice dough with bean paste and pork filling on the inside, so its construction is like bánh (anything made of dough) (reference). Very subtle and yummy!

Xôi khúc

Of course you can't miss the signature xôi gà of Đà Nẵng as I have introduced in this post. Can you believe this amazing dish is only for 10k?

Xôi gà - Sticky rice with shredded chicken

Thanks to the above little discoveries, I now have something to look forward to every morning, especially on the least interesting days at work.

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Where:

  - Xôi thịt trứng (braised pork and quail eggs) 16k, Xôi gà rô ti (roasted chicken)16k, Xôi đậu đường (peanuts and sugar), Xôi dăm bông (cotton pork)
       @Opposite 23 Ngô Gia Tự (alternative: 29  Ngô Gia Tự), morning


  - Xôi vò (mung bean coated) 10k, Xôi gấc (Baby jackfruit flavored)

    @107 Nguyễn Chí Thanh, morning













- Xôi bắp (sweet corn) 7k
    @100 Đống Đa, morning

  - Xôi khúc (xôi cúc) 8k
    @Nguyễn Du and Nguyễn Chí Thanh intersection, early morning (before 8)


- Xôi gà (shredded chicken) 10k
    @41 Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai, all day

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