Sweet Rice with Mung Beans( xoi vo)

The word xoi vo in Vietnamese means all the grains of cooked sticky rice have to be separated. For this preparation, xoi vo is time consuming and complicated. This special dish is always served on a special occasion like Vietnamese New Year, some Buddhist tradition celebrations, and memorial days. Most household cooks avoid learning this recipe because the tradition of how to make this recipe is not simple. My mom used to make xoi vo with chicken fat, and others soak sweet rice in coconut milk overnight just to have the rice not stick together. I have loved xoi vo ever since a young girl. Therefore, I have practiced making xoi vo many times using different methods from mom and others to find the best way to make xoi vo. Finally, I found the secret weapon for this dish – coconut oil,. The preparation is the same way mom did with chicken fat, but much healthier and much easier.

Ingredients:
1 cup dried split mung beans, soaked overnight
3 cups sweet rice, soaked overnight
3 tbs coconut oil
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup very fine white sugar (optional)

Directions:
In the morning, drain the mung beans and sweet rice. The sweet rice has to be completely dry for 1 hour.

Steam the mung beans over high heat on the steamer. Let it cool off and process in a food processor until becoming a fine powder.

When the rice is ready, combine the mung beans and the rice together until all the grains of rice are coated with mung beans. Add salt.

Put the rice on the steamer and cook over high heat. Occasionally, open the lid to get rid of some of the water built up while steaming. After the rice is cooked, mix gently the coconut oil into the rice, making sure the oil coats all the rice. If serving xoi vo sweet, then add sugar at this point.