The scent of Hanoi green rice in the heart of Pleiku mountain town

(GLO)- With her love for Hanoi cuisine, Ms. Le Thi Ni Na (Group 2, Thong Nhat Ward, Pleiku City) has created a special sticky rice dish that makes anyone who has tried it once remember it fondly.

Born and raised in Gia Lai, Ms. Na has a deep love for the scenery and cuisine of Hanoi. Currently, she works at an Oriental medicine clinic. In her spare time, she learns about Hanoi cuisine, especially green rice flakes.

Ms. Na said: “On one visit to the capital, I had the chance to enjoy sticky rice with young rice. The green sticky rice, imbued with the fragrance of young rice, wrapped in lotus leaves, gave off a gentle fragrance that left a lasting impression on me. From that moment on, I cherished the plan to bring the sticky rice back to Pleiku and process it into dishes according to the taste of the people of the mountain town.”

Ms. Le Thi Ni Na (right cover) wraps sticky rice for customers. Photo: MK

In early 2024, she went to Hanoi to learn and personally select the ingredients. According to Ms. Na, the green rice grains are thin but contain the quintessence of the earth and sky, the scent of the sun and autumn wind. Hanoi has two very famous rice-making villages, Vong and Me Tri. Ms. Na chooses the type of rice made from sticky rice such as fragrant sticky rice, tan sticky rice, tangerine sticky rice, and yellow flower sticky rice. The rice must have a jade green color and the rich aroma of young rice.

Ms. Le Thi Ni Na (Thong Nhat ward, Pleiku city) brought the scent of Hanoi green rice to the heart of Pleiku. Photo: MK

“After bringing green rice to Pleiku, I started making green rice sticky rice - a simple dish associated with cold days. Green rice sticky rice is a combination of green rice with plump, delicious sticky rice, mixed with a few strands of fatty coconut and fragrant lotus seeds. It sounds simple, but it took me nearly a month of experimenting with many failures to create a batch of green rice sticky rice with the standard Hanoi flavor.

After many failures, I realized that the sticky rice should not be too dry or too mushy, and the temperature must be adjusted to ensure the sticky rice has the soft, fragrant, and nutty taste of green rice and mung beans, the fatty taste of coconut, and the sweet taste of lotus seeds. In particular, I have tried to change the taste a bit to make the sticky rice more flavorful than the original sticky rice of the capital to suit the taste of Pleiku people" - Ms. Na shared.

Not just a simple dish, green rice flakes are like a gift from Hanoi appearing in the heart of the mountain town of Pleiku and telling fascinating cultural stories. Photo: MK

The fresh green color of green rice combined with the yellow color of green beans and the white color of coconut creates a dish that is attractive in both flavor and appearance. Hanoians often wrap green rice in lotus leaves to keep it warm and enhance its aroma.

However, lotus leaves are very scarce in Pleiku. Ms. Na tried to wrap sticky rice with many different types of leaves, but in the end, she found that dong leaves were the most suitable. Dong trees are widely grown by people in the suburbs of Pleiku around their gardens. Dong leaves have good antioxidant properties, sweet taste, and a cool green color, suitable for wrapping sticky rice.

Ms. Na confided: “Through the survey, sticky rice with green rice was praised by many customers in Pleiku and they often came back to order. I decided to open an online store with the familiar name “Na’s Kitchen”. Each package of sticky rice I sell for 30-35 thousand VND. The number of customers coming to “Na’s Kitchen” is increasing day by day, helping me confidently develop some other dishes from green rice such as: raw green rice, stir-fried green rice”.

Ms. Na tried to make the sticky rice more flavorful than the original sticky rice of the capital to suit the taste of Pleiku people. Photo: MK

Ms. Tran Hoai Anh (Group 4, Hoa Lu Ward, Pleiku City) confided: “I left Hanoi when I was 17 years old, but I can never forget the taste of green rice. By chance, I enjoyed green rice sticky rice from “Na’s Kitchen”, and I was extremely excited. Although I am in Pleiku, I can still feel the aroma of green rice from Hanoi. That is really interesting”.

Many Pleiku diners enjoy enjoying Hanoi green rice in the heart of the mountain town. Photo: MK

Unlike Ms. Hoai Anh, Ms. Van Thi Ai Nhung (Group 2, Tra Ba Ward, Pleiku City) was quite surprised when she first enjoyed the taste of the capital's green rice. "I have visited Hanoi several times but have not had the opportunity to enjoy green rice. Therefore, when I ate the green rice sticky rice dish made by Ms. Na, I was very impressed. The dish has a typical taste of Hanoi but is now adapted to suit the taste of the highlands" - Ms. Nhung said.

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/huong-com-ha-noi-giua-long-pho-nui-pleiku-post328847.html