Heartwarming Meal (Ho-fude)

Vietnam offers a rich variety of takeout menu options! Rice dishes in particular are especially popular among hardworking, physically active men with big appetites, so they often sell out early in the morning. And this is one of them.

XOI (Xoi) means sticky or glutinous, and refers to glutinous rice. In other words, it's a kind of sticky rice dish (okowa). The XEO (Xeo) on the top row refers to mung beans, so it's sticky rice with mung beans. The BAP (Bap) in the middle row is corn, so that makes it sticky rice with corn. Since it's from Hanoi, I expected the seasoning to be light and not too sweet, so I bought one hoping for that.

There are two kinds of freshly steamed okowa (glutinous rice) in the basket. This one, BAP, has plenty of yellow corn kernels in it, doesn't it? I chose this one.

A beautiful young woman who resembles Meisa Kuroki skillfully spreads corn okowa (sticky rice) over a lotus leaf. She lightly presses it into a mound shape with a few gentle squeezes, then quickly tops it with several kinds of toppings. It's such a routine procedure for her that it went by so fast I couldn't quite make out what she added. The rest is a surprise for when you open it! She skillfully wraps it round and round in the lotus leaf, and finishes with a bright smile. We bring it to a nearby café and enjoy it together with some tea.

When you unwrap the package~~ There were several slices of thin ham! And also, just like in bánh mì, there was that shredded dried chicken floss, topped with fried onions (red shallots). It's quite a hearty amount. This will really fill you up~. It even comes with a cute little spoon. The price is 20,000 VND, which is about 100 yen. In other words, it's kind of like a convenience store rice ball. But it's freshly cooked, and even the toppings are homemade. The seasoning was very light and delicious. It balances nicely with the natural sweetness of the corn~. There are still so many varieties on the takeout menu, so I'll keep recording them little by little while I try to learn Vietnamese. Expat life ranking