Che soi nuoc (sticky rice balls stuffed with mung beans)

Although I am not American I still want to stand still by what happened today 10 years ago. I don’t remember much, but I do remember where I was when I heard the news. I was in college and heard through classmates that something terrible has happened in America. It seems so unreal that 2 planes went right through 2 towers till we saw the footage on tv.

Today National Geographic Channel devoted the whole day on what happened on 9/11 with interviews with survivors and more. The hubby and I spend all morning watching. There are so many touching stories and often my eyes got wet. How could this happen. I think this question still remains party unanswered. Although they have been able to reconstruct somewhat what happened that day, the ones who know the whole picture are no longer with us. All we can do now is hope and pray it will never happen again. Although it happened in America it had a huge impact on the rest of the world. It’s good to stand still and think about that black black day. So you could get things back in perspective.

Today I am getting back to my roots. I was born in Vietnam but raised in Holland. I feel very bless to be part of 2 different worlds. All that I know about Vietnamese cooking has been past down by my mom. She’s the best!

So since she came over for dinner I took the opportunity to make che soi nuoc with her.

Now doesn’t that look good? Let me show you how we made it.

We used:

* 1 bag of glutinous rice flour

* about 300 gram of mung beans

* grated dried coconut

* sugar

* 2 bags of vanilla sugar

* half a teaspoon of salt

* ginger

* toasted sesame seeds

I realize not all the ingredients are in the picture, but hey I did captured the main ones.

I cooked the beans in a bit of water till they were soft enough to mash them. Then I added one package of vanilla sugar, the sugar and the salt. We don’t like overly sweet filling so we started with a couple table spoons of sugar first and added more till it was sweet enough.

Then when the beans cooled off enough to handle we rolled them in little balls. They were a bit bigger then a marble. Mom normally makes huge ones, but I prefer small balls so I can have a lot more.

After the balls were done we started with the dough. We didn’t want to make the dough in advance because when it dries out it will be a bit too hard to handle. All we had to do is to add a bit of hand warm water to the flour and kneed it till it was still moist but firm enough to work with. It has to have the consistency of play dough.

We pinched a bit of dough, flatten it out and placed the mung ball in the middle. Then we wrapped the dough around it, removed the access dough and rolled it  between our palms till it was round.

We continued doing it till there was no dough left. I don’t know how many balls we ended up with, but it was a lot. So make sure you only make this when you have a party, or half the recipe.

While we were forming the balls I boiled some water and put the balls in when the water was cooking. They will sink straight to the bottom. I used a wooden spoon to stir them around making sure they didn’t stick.

The balls are done when they come on the surface. I tend to let them boil for a bit longer just to make sure.

I had a container with cold water so I could put the balls in straight after they were done so they could cool down.

After all the balls were cooked it was time to make the ginger simple syrup. I boiled some water, added some sugar, one package of vanilla sugar and some ginger and that was it. You can make it as sweet as you like. When the syrup was done all the balls went in and we let it boil for a bit so the balls could get warm.

Right after dinner I had some che soi nuoc. The way we like to eat it is with some sprinkles of toasted sesame seeds and a dash of coconut milk. I skipped on the coconut milk today, but it was still very good.

I can’t believe it was so easy to make and I am already thinking about different stuffing…I’m telling you…food is always on my mind, but today I also remember the lives of all those who have been effected by 9/11.

Sweet potato and yellow mung bean dessert

What do you do when you have some sweet potatoes? There are so many options. I like them steamed, mashed, fried; there is nothing you can’t do with them. They are good in savory and sweet dishes.

Today I paired them with a handful of yellow mung beans to make a sweet dessert.  

Main ingredients: sweet potatoes, yellow mung beans, coconut milk and of course sugar and vanilla essence.  

I washed and rinsed the beans several times till the water was clear. Then it was time to cook them.

 

While the beans cook I pealed the potatoes. After a quick wash I used a big rasp to shredder them.

Make sure you keep an eye on the beans. As they cook their release lots of foam. Scoop it out when you see it.

The two potatoes gave me a whole big pile.

By this time the beans are cooked. They should look like this. Now it is time to add the sugar and the vanilla essence or vanilla sugar. Whatever you have at hand. Start with a couple of spoons of sugar first so you can control the sweetness. Keep in mind that the sweet potatoes are slightly sweet as well.

Then it is time to add the shredded potatoes. The whole pile went in.

I cooked it for a couple of minutes till the potatoes soften. Of course I continued scoping off the foam.

This time I decided to add the coconut milk to make it creamier. Last time I didn’t add the milk and the dessert was, when you eat it cold, very refreshing. I thought I give it a try with the coconut milk.

  

I didn’t use the whole can of coconut milk. Whatever I had left I pored in a plastic bag we use for making ice cubs and popped them in the freezer. This way I always have coconut milk at hand.

Then last minute I game up with this brilliant idea to add some tapioca peals. Because they had to cook I had the pan on the stove a bit longer making the potatoes mushier. So if you want to use tapioca then I suggest you to add it right after you add the potatoes. Then everything will cook at the same time.

 

This dessert can be eaten hot, warm or cold. This is how it looks when it came from the stove. Still piping hot and nice an runny.    

 

 

This is the next day when it came out of the fridge. Now that I tried both versions, with and without coconut milk I have to say I prefer the version with the coconut milk. The version with the milk is heavier and not refreshing at all. Try both versions and you know what I mean. This dessert (without the coconut milk) will be great on a hot sunny day.