Mom's Delectable Bird Sticky Rice Leaves Everyone Craving, Even When Full

Waking up in the chilly Hanoi morning, holding a warm handful of sticky rice, fragrant and soft, paired with sweet and fatty bird meat, and aromatic fried shallots, there's simply nothing better!

Bird Sticky Rice, Easier Than Regular Sticky Rice

Heading to the market in the morning, spotting a few vendors selling small birds, suddenly reminiscing about the delicious bird sticky rice from last October 20th at Quan Son Cuoc, it's been so long since I've had such fragrant, soft, and rich sticky rice. So, I decided to buy 2 birds and make sticky rice for the whole family to enjoy before heading to work.

A warm bowl of bird sticky rice warms the heart, serving the whole family on chilly mornings before heading to work.

Making bird sticky rice is not as difficult as pandan sticky rice or broken rice sticky rice, the important thing is to find freshly caught birds, with sweet, tender, and more fragrant meat than larger birds.

Ingredients for making bird sticky rice for 4 people:

+ 1 kg of delicious glutinous rice

+ 2 freshly caught pigeons

+ 7-8 pieces of dried shallots

+ Chicken fat, cooking oil

+ Seasonings: fish sauce, salt

Method for making bird sticky rice for 4 people:

Step 1: Soak glutinous rice

Gently soak the glutinous rice (do not rub vigorously), remove impurities, then soak it in lukewarm water. The rice will absorb all the water and expand. When cooking, just remove it without stirring again. You should soak it overnight. The next day, after removing, let the rice drain and sprinkle a little salt, toss evenly so that the grains of sticky rice have a richer flavor.

Soak glutinous rice

Step 2: Prepare lotus seeds

+ If using fresh lotus seeds, peel off the skin, remove the core and silk, wash thoroughly and drain

+ If using dried lotus seeds, soak until swollen, then rinse and drain

Step 3: Rice ingredients

Place the rice in a pot, evenly spread the rice, sprinkle lotus seeds on top, and cook until almost done, then add about 2 teaspoons of chicken fat (for a rich aroma). Gently mix to allow the chicken fat to permeate, making the rice grains glossy, fragrant, and rich, then turn off the heat. Transfer the sticky rice to cool down.

Sticky rice with lotus seeds cooked

Step 4: Fry shallots

Peel and slice the shallots, then fry in a pan until fragrant, do not let them burn, when they turn golden and crispy, they're ready.

Fry shallots

Step 5: Prepare dove meat

Purchase doves from the market, ask the seller to remove the feathers, when you get home, clean them thoroughly, pat them dry on the outside, then finely chop. Pay attention to chopping thoroughly, including the skin and bones. After chopping, check if there are any large bone fragments left, then chop again. If you don't like eating bones, separate the meat and finely chop it.

Finely chopped dove meat

What I love most about the bird sticky rice dish at Quan Son Cuoc compared to other places I've eaten before is how finely the bones are minced, so meticulously done, I wonder if they separate the bone from the meat or mince it in some special way that the bones are very small, tender, like eating braised fish bones. The bird meat is cooked with rich flavor, just right, without overpowering the aroma of the sticky rice, which impressed everyone in the group that day.

Step 6: Stir-fry the bird meat

Add some fat, a small portion of fried shallots into the pan then stir-fry the bird meat until cooked, season with a few spoonfuls of fish sauce and soup powder to taste. Note: when stir-frying, keep the heat high from the start so the meat doesn't release too much liquid.

Stir-fry until cooked

Step 7: Mix the bird meat into the sticky rice

By now, the sticky rice has cooled down, you mix the stir-fried bird meat into the sticky rice, stirring evenly with your hands so that the bird meat is well incorporated into the sticky rice, then heat it up again on the stove. Finally, turn off the stove, transfer the sticky rice onto a plate, sprinkle fried shallots on top, and invite everyone to enjoy.

7 Mix the bird meat into the sticky rice then cook until the sticky rice is thoroughly cooked, then turn off the stove, sprinkle shallots on top and enjoy

Bird Sticky Rice - A Dish for Every Family

Last week, I went to Quan Son Cuoc with some old friends. The autumn weather was crisp, the air was refreshing, and the sunlight reminded us of something. We decided to find a simple place with reasonable prices, where we could enjoy some rice wine amidst the fragrance of golden apricot blossoms, nibbling on rustic dishes like crispy frog and tough buffalo meat, while sitting around chatting and reminiscing about old memories. But the best thing was still the bird sticky rice!

Quan Son Cuoc, simple and reasonably priced, offering rice wine amidst the fragrance of golden apricot blossoms, accompanied by some rustic dishes

In Hanoi, the early season cold winds along with a steaming plate of bird sticky rice brought by the restaurant owner himself evoke a deep nostalgia. Nowadays, people also make sticky rice with various birds like quail and cuckoo, it's rare to find one made with a particular kind of bird. We still call bird sticky rice a family dish. Despite trying it in many places, finding sticky rice that's as soft, tender, and stays moist throughout the meal like at Quan Son Cuoc is rare. The glutinous rice is perfectly fragrant, the bird meat is sweet, and the fried shallots are aromatic without overpowering the rice, not as cloying as many other places.

If you visit Quan Son Cuoc in October, don't miss out on the bird sticky rice

That's when the freshly harvested fields, the onset of cold, and the returning flocks of birds make the bird meat sweet, fatty, tender, and nutritious, so people hunt a lot. Now that pigeon meat is readily available and equally sweet, it's just that it's available all year round, losing the anticipation of waiting to eat like it used to.

Sitting in the space of a stilt house, with all the furniture made of simulated bamboo and rattan, surrounded by a green traditional atmosphere, further enhances the flavors of the rustic dishes here.

Address:

Quan Son Cuoc - 54 Nguyen Khanh Toan, Cau Giay