Sandwich Shop Goodies 20 – Xôi khúc – Jersey cudweed sticky rice
There’s a Vietnamese song that starts like this: “Ten years pass by without seeing each other, I thought love had grown old/ Like the clouds that have flown by so many years, I thought we had forgotten.”(*) It then went on to say, as you might expect, that the narrator still yearns for that love like ten years ago. An even more dramatic thing happens to me: I still crave xôi khúc with the same passion of the last time I had it, which was twenty years ago.
The lady who sold xôi khúc (xôi cúc if you’re from the South)(*) near our elementary school was old. In her sixties at least. She was clean, so Little Mom bought xôi from her. We never had xôi khúc from anyone else, and I don’t remember seeing anyone else selling it. Loosely wrapped in banana leaves like all other xôi(*), her xôi khúc beamed with the smell of ground black pepper in the bean paste and the cool, herbal flavor of the steamy sticky rice. After the lady stopped showing up in the mornings with her basket, we stopped having xôi khúc for breakfast.
Xôi khúc is too much of a hassle for living-alone home cooks. First of all, you need the leaves that make xôi khúc xôi khúc: the not-so-popular-and rau khúc (“rau” is greens)(***) whose English name I could find only after I found out its Japanese name from the blog of a Vietnamese expat in Japan, and I don’t even know Japanese. The Japanese use this grass in their kusa mochi, a category of grass mochi to which the yomogi daifuku belongs. De javu. The Vietnamese grind it up and use the juice to knead sticky rice flour into a dough and make xôi khúc. The dough coats a ball of savory mung bean paste, the whole thing is laid between thin layers of sticky rice and steamed. In the end, you get a handful of something with grains of sticky rice on the outside, so its appearance is like xôi, and a ball of grassy sticky rice dough with bean paste filling on the inside, so its construction is like bánh (anything made of dough). Hence its name varies: bánh khúc, xôi khúc, xôi cúc (the Southerners’ simplified pronunciation).
Today, I’ve reunited with xôi khúc. This small store in Bellaire, packed with xôi, chè, savory foods and customers at 9 on a Sunday morning, sells xôi khúc, 1 đồng 1 viên ($1/ball), each ball as big as a lemon, two of them fit snuggly in a white styrofoam box. The rice scoop digs into the tray. A slight bounce and the soft sticky rice separates. A familiar peppery smell infiltrates my veins. The guy asked if I’d like to top them with a few spoonfuls of fried shallots. Yes, please!
Address: Đức Phương Thạch Chè
11360 Bellaire Blvd
Houston, TX 77072
(281) 498-1838
(also in the Vietnamese Veteran Memorial area, near Giò Chả Đức Hương where Little Mom buys silk sausage)
Previously on Sandwich Shop Goodies: sesame beignet (bánh tiêu)
(*): Vietnamese lyrics: “Mười năm không gặp tưởng tình đã cũ/ Mây bay bao năm tưởng mình đã quên”. The song is titled Mười Năm Tình Cũ (“love dated ten years”). You can listen to it here.
(**): xôi is steamed sticky rice, either mixed with beans (sweet xôi) or eaten with meat (savory xôi). I’ve written about xôi bắp (corn xôi) and xôi đậu (peanut xôi) before.
(***): Gnaphallium affine, Jersey cudweed in English, hahakogusa (ハハコグサ in Katakana or “母子草” in Kanji) in Japanese. My inner linguistics savvy especially likes the Japanese name: 母 (haha) is Kanji for mother, 子 (ko) child, and 草 (gusa) grass: so rau khúc is Mother [and] Child Grass (mẫu tử thảo).
Great write-up, I’m normal visitor of one’s blog, maintain up the nice operate, and It is going to be a regular visitor for a long time.
1I envy your work, regards for all the useful articles.
2Perfect work you have done, this internet site is really cool with fantastic info .
3This is really fascinating, You are an overly skilled blogger. I’ve joined your rss feed and stay up for in the hunt for extra of your magnificent post. Also, I’ve shared your web site in my social networks!
4Hello.This article was really interesting, especially because I was investigating for thoughts on this topic last Wednesday.
5I haven’t checked in here for a while because I thought it was getting boring, but the last few posts are good quality so I guess I’ll add you back to my everyday bloglist. You deserve it my friend 🙂
6I truly appreciate this post. I’ve been looking everywhere for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You have made my day! Thanks again
7Hello, Neat post. There’s a problem along with your web site in web explorer, would check thisK IE still is the marketplace chief and a huge part of people will miss your excellent writing due to this problem.
8I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own weblog and was wondering what all is needed to get setup? I’m assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny? I’m not very web smart so I’m not 100 sure. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks
9very nice post, i actually love this web site, keep on it
10Hello this is somewhat of off topic but I was wanting to know if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding know-how so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
11I’m no longer positive where you’re getting your information, but good topic. I needs to spend a while studying much more or figuring out more. Thanks for magnificent information I was looking for this information for my mission.
12Hi there! This post couldn’t be written any better! Reading through this post reminds me of my previous room mate! He always kept talking about this. I will forward this article to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thank you for sharing!
13You made some respectable points there. I appeared on the web for the problem and located most individuals will go together with along with your website.
14Very interesting information!Perfect just what I was looking for!
15You should take part in a contest for one of the best blogs on the web. I will recommend this site!
16I got good info from your blog
17I’m impressed, I have to say. Actually rarely do I encounter a blog that’s each educative and entertaining, and let me tell you, you’ve gotten hit the nail on the head. Your thought is outstanding; the issue is something that not sufficient individuals are talking intelligently about. I’m very joyful that I stumbled throughout this in my search for something regarding this.
18Some genuinely quality posts on this site, saved to my bookmarks.
19I got what you intend,saved to my bookmarks, very nice website .
20Lovely just what I was searching for.Thanks to the author for taking his clock time on this one.
21I’ve been absent for some time, but now I remember why I used to love this site. Thank you, I’ll try and check back more often. How frequently you update your site?
22Woah! I’m really loving the template/theme of this site. It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s hard to get that “perfect balance” between user friendliness and appearance. I must say that you’ve done a superb job with this. In addition, the blog loads very fast for me on Internet explorer. Superb Blog!
23whoah this blog is excellent i love reading your articles. Keep up the good work! You know, a lot of people are looking around for this information, you could help them greatly.
24I have been exploring for a little for any high-quality articles or blog posts on this kind of area . Exploring in Yahoo I at last stumbled upon this site. Reading this info So i am happy to convey that I have an incredibly good uncanny feeling I discovered just what I needed. I most certainly will make sure to don’t forget this site and give it a look regularly.
25Hello! I just would like to give a huge thumbs up for the great info you have here on this post. I will be coming back to your blog for more soon.
26When I initially commented I clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now every time a remark is added I get four emails with the identical comment. Is there any manner you possibly can take away me from that service? Thanks!
27Hello! I could have sworn I’ve been to this blog before but after browsing through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Anyways, I’m definitely happy I found it and I’ll be book-marking and checking back frequently!
28You are a very bright individual!
29This blog is definitely rather handy since I’m at the moment creating an internet floral website – although I am only starting out therefore it’s really fairly small, nothing like this site. Can link to a few of the posts here as they are quite. Thanks much. Zoey Olsen
30I believe this web site holds some very wonderful info for everyone :D.
31Of course, what a fantastic site and educative posts, I will bookmark your blog.Best Regards!
32superb post.Ne’er knew this, thankyou for letting me know.
33you’re truly a just right webmaster. The web site loading pace is incredible. It sort of feels that you’re doing any distinctive trick. Furthermore, The contents are masterwork. you have done a magnificent task in this matter!
34F*ckin’ tremendous things here. I am very glad to see your post. Thanks a lot and i’m looking forward to contact you. Will you kindly drop me a mail?
35I was examining some of your articles on this site and I believe this web site is rattling instructive! Retain putting up.
36Hello! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a collection of volunteers and starting a new project in a community in the same niche. Your blog provided us valuable information to work on. You have done a outstanding job!
37Thank you for another fantastic article. The place else could anybody get that kind of info in such an ideal way of writing? I’ve a presentation next week, and I’m on the look for such information.
38I must voice my respect for your generosity in support of men and women that really want assistance with that issue. Your very own dedication to getting the solution all-around appeared to be astonishingly important and have really allowed women like me to attain their endeavors. Your informative suggestions implies a lot a person like me and far more to my fellow workers. Thank you; from all of us.
39Thanks a lot for sharing this with all of us you actually know what you are talking about! Bookmarked. Kindly also visit my website =). We could have a link exchange arrangement between us!
40I’ve read a few excellent stuff here. Certainly worth bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how a lot effort you put to create one of these fantastic informative site.
41Very interesting subject , appreciate it for putting up.
42I’ve been absent for a while, but now I remember why I used to love this website. Thanks, I’ll try and check back more often. How frequently you update your website?
43I am perpetually thought about this, appreciate it for putting up.
44You should take part in a contest for one of the best blogs on the web. I will recommend this site!
45Wohh precisely what I was searching for, regards for putting up.
46I believe this website has got some very good information for everyone :D. “Morality, like art, means a drawing a line someplace.” by Oscar Wilde.
47Nice post. I was checking constantly this blog and I am inspired! Extremely useful information particularly the final section 🙂 I handle such info much. I was seeking this certain info for a very long time. Thank you and best of luck.
48of course like your web site but you have to check the spelling on several of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling issues and I find it very troublesome to tell the truth nevertheless I’ll surely come back again.
49Useful info. Lucky me I found your site by accident, and I am stunned why this twist of fate did not took place in advance! I bookmarked it.
50