The Original
White sticky rice, pickled radish, pickled mustard greens, braised egg, pork floss, cruller.
White sticky rice is packed down flat on the table and layered with the standard ingredients of pickled radish and mustard greens, chunks of braised egg, a bit of pork floss, and a crisp cruller. A cruller is deep-fried dough, like an elongated donut minus the sugar. They’re often eaten by themselves with a side of soy milk. For the purposes of the fan tuan, it’s fried twice and cut into bite-size pieces. Pork floss is dried meat, mashed so finely and dehydrated so that it has a texture of cotton. Egg is braised in soy sauce, which adds salty depth, and pickled radishes and mustard greens create a dimension of tartness.
Ingredients
- Sticky Rice
- Crispy Cruller
- Pickled Radish
- Braised Egg
- Pork Sung
Making the Sticky Rice
- Glutinous or Sweet Rice – Start with the right variety of rice. It is labeled “glutinous” or “sweet”. Other types of rice (like jasmine rice) will not work.
- Soaking in Water – Before cooking, the rice must be soaked in water for 4 to 10 hours.
- Steaming – The rice is steamed over simmering water. Authentic sticky rice cannot be boiled directly in water like other types of rice.