Xoi Xeo

Ingredients

• 400g glutinous rice
• 200g split dried mung beans
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp salt
• 5 shallots, thinly sliced
• 120ml neutral oil
• 2 tbsp chicken fat or neutral oil, for the rice
• 1 tbsp sugar

Before you cook

• Soak the glutinous rice in cold water with the turmeric and half the salt for at least 4 hours or overnight
• Soak the split mung beans in cold water for 3 hours
• Drain both thoroughly in a sieve for 15 minutes so the steam is not fighting excess water
• Slice the shallots as thinly and evenly as you can
• Line a steamer basket with muslin or a clean tea towel

Steps

1. Heat the 120ml of oil in a small pan over medium-low heat and add the sliced shallots.
2. Fry the shallots for about ten minutes, stirring often, until they are evenly gold, then drain them on kitchen paper and keep the oil.
3. Spread the drained mung beans in a steamer basket and steam them for twenty-five minutes until they crush easily between your fingers.
4. Tip the hot mung beans into a food processor with the sugar and a pinch of salt and blitz them into a smooth thick paste.
5. Turn the paste out, divide it in two and roll each half into a tight ball, pressing hard so there are no air pockets.
6. Wrap the balls in cling film and let them cool and firm up.
7. Spread the drained turmeric rice in the lined steamer in an even layer and poke a few holes through it with a chopstick.
8. Steam the rice for thirty minutes.
9. Sprinkle two tablespoons of water over the rice, fluff it with a fork, and steam for a final ten minutes.
10. Stir the chicken fat and the remaining salt through the hot rice so every grain glistens.
11. Mound the rice into four bowls.
12. Hold a mung bean ball over each bowl and shave thin curls off it with a wet knife so they fall across the surface.
13. Spoon over some of the reserved shallot oil and finish with a heavy scatter of fried shallots.