Explore the top 10 delicious dishes made from gac fruit that you should definitely try

Gac sticky rice is a traditional Northern Vietnamese dish often prepared during festive occasions such as Tet holidays and weddings for its auspicious significance. Nowadays, it has gained popularity as a beloved breakfast option. Cooking gac sticky rice is straightforward, with glutinous rice cooked to a sticky, fragrant perfection, especially when combined with the natural red hue of gac fruit, making it irresistibly appealing.

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe red gac fruit
• 4 cups glutinous rice
• 200ml coconut milk
• 5g salt
• 50g sugar
• 2 tablespoons white wine
• 20ml sesame oil
• Tools required: steamer, knife, spoon, plate…

Instructions:

Soaking the rice:

• Gently wash the glutinous rice with clean water 2 – 3 times, then soak. Depending on the method:
  • If using warm water, soak for about 4 hours.
  • If using cold water, soak overnight for 6 – 8 hours.

Extracting gac flesh:

• Halve the gac fruit, then scoop out the flesh into a clean bowl.
• Add 2 tablespoons of white wine to the bowl of gac flesh, wear gloves, and gently squeeze to separate the flesh from the seeds. Discard the black seeds and keep the red gac flesh for cooking with glutinous rice.

Mixing glutinous rice with gac:

• After soaking the rice and separating the gac flesh, mix them together, adding 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix gently until the rice is dyed a shiny red color.
• Add coconut milk, mix again. Adjust the amount according to taste preference.

Steaming the gac sticky rice:

• Steam method:
  • Steam for about 40 – 60 minutes until the sticky rice is cooked.
  • When soft, stir to make it fluffy. Add 50g of sugar and 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, steam for another 10 minutes before removing from heat.

• Rice cooker method:
  • Put the mixed rice and gac into the rice cooker, add enough water, cook as usual.
  • When cooked, add sugar and 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, cover, and cook again until done.

Final product and serving:

• Let the gac sticky rice cool slightly, then gently mix and shape before serving. Traditional gac sticky rice is simple, fragrant, and visually appealing with its vibrant red color.

With a sweet and nutty green bean filling reminiscent of the filling of thorn cakes, gac thorn cakes boast a vibrant red color symbolizing luck, happiness, and joy. Mytour shares a simple recipe for making gac thorn cakes to enjoy the specialty of Hai Duong right at home.

Ingredients:

• 400g glutinous rice flour
• 8g pure dried gac powder
• 150g green beans
• 100g pumpkin preserves
• 50g lotus seeds
• 30g shredded coconut
• Sesame seeds
• Sugar, vanilla
• Banana leaves, cooking oil, wine,...

Instructions:

• Mix dried gac powder with warm water to create a slightly thick mixture, then add a few drops of wine to enhance the color
• Blend glutinous rice flour with water until fully dissolved, then strain to obtain a smooth rice flour mixture. Soak the flour for about 1 - 2 hours until evenly soaked, then drain and hang the flour in a cloth bag to let it dry. After about 3 hours, the flour should be elastic and dry.
• Mix glutinous rice flour with about 200g of sugar, then add gac flesh and knead together. Knead until the dough is smooth and evenly colored with gac. Let the dough rest for 15 - 20 minutes before dividing it into equal portions.
• Soak dried lotus seeds until they expand, then boil until cooked; chop the pumpkin preserves into small pieces.
• Soak green beans (2 - 3 hours), then steam until cooked. Blend the cooked green beans, lotus seeds, a little sugar, and a little water in a blender until smooth. Stir-fry the bean paste with a little cooking oil and vanilla until thickened, then add chopped pumpkin preserves, shredded coconut, continue stirring until the bean paste forms a cohesive mass. Let it cool, forming bean paste balls slightly larger than the dough balls.
• Take each dough ball, flatten it, then place a bean paste ball in the center. Wrap the dough around the filling, ensuring it is completely sealed. Evenly shape the dough balls, ensuring the thickness is uniform throughout. Coat your palms with a little oil and roll each dough ball to ensure evenness.
• Blanch banana leaves with hot water, then wrap the gac thorn cakes like thorn cakes, sprinkle some sesame seeds roasted beforehand onto the banana leaves before wrapping.
• Boil a pot of water. Place the cakes in a steamer, cover, and steam for about 30 minutes until cooked. Turn off the heat and remove the cakes.
• Let the cakes cool slightly, then use your hands to flatten them evenly, gently pressing to make them square. Once completely cooled, the cakes are ready to be enjoyed.