Xoi Xeo and Shallot Oil Recipe (Vietnamese) Sticky Rice with Turmeric, Fried Shallots and Mung Beans

Some more street food/snack!  I love fried shallots so I really wanted to try this one, and it's so addictive and satisfying!  As I cook recipes from this book, Vietnamese Street Food, I realize the instructions aren't precise enough for someone who's never tried or even seen these foods before.  This one, on the picture, is shaped like a rough ball, but nowhere is it written to shape the rice.  They do precise you're supposed to eat it with your hands though, so I decided to shape them into clumps.  Also, the amount of mung beans was too much compared to the picture, so I reduced the quantity by half, adjusted the salt a little...  Anyway, here's my edited version of Sticky Rice with Turmeric and Mung Beans from the book Vietnamese Street Food by Tracey Lister and Andreas Pohl:

(serves 2-4)

-1 1/2cup glutinous white rice

-50g mung beans, the ones without skins

-3/4tsp turmeric powder or 1/2cm fresh turmeric, peeled and puréed 

-3/4tsp salt

-1/6tsp sugar

-2 shallots and some oil to make fried shallots and shallot oil, recipe follows

Soak the glutinous rice overnight.  Soak the mung beans 3 hours before cooking.

Strain and rinse well the soaked mung beans.  Put in a pot and cover with water, bring to a boil and simmer for 30-40 minutes, until the beans are easily mashable between your index and thumb.

While the beans are cooking, strain the soaked rice and rinse well, drain.  Mix with salt, sugar and turmeric until the yellow color is well distributed.  Line your steamer with muslin cloth (I didn't have any so I used a banana leaf) and steam for about 30 minutes on medium or until the rice is tender and chewy.

When the beans are cooked, strain them and let them cool down until you can touch them.  With a muslin cloth, a fine mesh strainer, your hands or paper towels, press as much water as you can out of the beans and form a ball.

When the rice is ready, leave to cool down until you can handle it and shape into clumps.

To serve, plate the clumps, drizzle with some shallot oil, mung bean ball shavings and fried shallots.

FRIED SHALLOTS:

Slice thinly two shallots (or more if you want some for other recipe).  Put them in a small saucepan, cover them with vegetable oil, and simmer on medium-low until the shallots are golden but not burnt (and they burn really fast, so keep an eye on it).  Strain, keep the oil and drain the shallots on paper towels so they crisp.