Vietnamese Red Rice

There are certain dishes that people ask me about and Vietnamese red rice is one of them. It's a dish that's become popular in a number of Vietnamese restaurants abroad -- a diaspora dish, if you will. It's not part of the Vietnamese repertoire in the sense of being a classic dish that says, "I'm Vietnamese!" On the other hand, what makes something a classic? Perhaps, a particular food becomes a classic if over time, enough cooks make it and enough people like it.

There's a red sticky rice called xoi gac in traditional Vietnamese cooking where sweet rice is coated in the red-orange pulp of the gac fruit (Mormordica cochinensis), a spiky volleyball-sized fruit that's related to bitter melon. That slightly sweet, rich xoi gac sticky rice is associated with celebratory occasions, like weddings, because its reddish color symbolizes prosperity and good luck. Usually, the rice is paired with roasted meats like crispy pork or duck.

I imagine that Vietnamese red rice is a take on xoi gac, only it's made with long-grain rice and is essentially a glorified fried rice. The difference is that the rice is cooked in butter and lots of garlic. Vietnamese restaurants, like their Chinese brethen, have lots of rice around so why not make fried rice?

I recently purchased a copy of the Red Lantern Vietnamese restaurant cookbook from Australia and there was the red rice recipe. I gave it a whirl , found it to be a tad greasy and bland, and adapted the recipe here for you to try.

For those of you who love this rice, let me know if it comes close to what you've enjoyed in Vietnamese restaurants. And if you try the recipe, do tell us all about your personal tweaks!

Red Rice
Com Do

Like all good fried rice, cook your rice on the firm side (use less water than usual) so that the grains retain their individuality. Then let the rice dry out in the refrigerator. If you have leftover rice, here's a great way to use it up! The rice will literally fry without soaking up tons of fat. The less moisture the better for fried rice, lest it becomes soggy. That's why the tomato paste is a champ and giving the rice great color and a touch of sweet flavor. As for the Maggi Seasoning Sauce . . . I like it for some savory depth.   

Pair the rice with wok seared (shaking) beef (thit bo luc lac) or grilled or roasted meats. Something rich here is nice -- something you'd eat with knife and fork. I served mine with a pan-seared pork chop seasoned with shallot, garlic, garam masala, fish sauce, and kecap manis.   

Serves 3 to 4

4 cups cooked long-grain rice
3 tablespoons butter
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
Scant 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons Maggi Seasoning Sauce or light (regular) soy sauce

1. Put the rice on a baking sheet and refrigerate it, uncovered, for 8 to 24 hours, until it is dry enough for you to gently crumble in your hands. Midway through, turn the rice to ensure even drying. Before cooking, return the rice to room temperature.

2. To make the rice, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons of butter. Once the frothing subsides, add the garlic, and cook, stirring frequently for about 2 minutes, until the garlic no longer smells raw and turning blond. Add the rice and stir to combine. Add the tomato paste and stir to coat the rice and turn it red. Increase the heat slightly and cook, stirring constantly for about 3 minutes, until the rice is heated through.

Sprinkle in the salt and Maggi Seasoning Sauce and stir to combine well. For extra richness, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter. Continue to gently fry the rice for another 1 to 2 minutes, to sear in the flavors. Remove from the heat, taste and add extra salt, if necessary. Transfer to a bowl and serve immediately.

Comments

[Chuck]

Thanks for the background on red rice. We never made this in our family, so I've never had it. I've had a few people mention it to me recently. I'll have to give it a try.

My version of red rice is plain rice with a spoonful of chili garlic sauce mixed in!

[Rosa]

Thanks for the tips! I love fried rice and that Red Rice looks delicious!

Cheers,

Rosa

[Andrea Nguyen]

Chili garlic sauce fried rice sounds mighty good, Chuck.

[KL]

Thank you for such an extensive work. I have been in and out of Vietnam the last 12 years and it has the best food in Asia. I love the noodles, dessert, coffee and the seafood! I hope to try some of the recipes.

[Joel]

Andrea, is the Red Lantern book worth the dollars to buy? I may want to change my stance and buy it after all, if something like 50% discount comes up in bookstores like Whitcoulls or Borders. It looks like it has more "dinner dishes" rather than one-bowl/dish quick dishes (noodle soup/rice set) than many other Vietnamese cookbooks.

I have also seen the recipe for "red rice" (com rang) in Michelle Lo's book that you bought a while back, which she uses to accompany diced beef fillet. On pg 115 the recipe is simply saute tomato paste in a wok and add in rice, stir-fry and season. To be honest, it doesn't compare with the recipe above.

[Tiffany Ta]

I am not a chef but this is the way that I have learned to make it from a restauranteur. Stir-fry the washed, drained, uncooked long-grain rice in the half mixture of butter and olive oil with minced shallots and garlic until the rice is opaque, then add boiling mixture water and tomato paste and Maggi seasoning sauce to taste. Be careful when you add the boiling saucy mixture to the rice, it will splatter and boil over if not cautiously and slowly added. Cover with lid and turn heat down to simmer until rice is cooked, then fluff with a pair of chopsticks and finally add a pat of butter to finish it off before serving. Yummy!
You can freeze and eat the rice at a later time. Usually we never get to this stage at our home.

[beryl]

Just love the sound of this rice and wondered when I tried to make fried rice, why it was not so successful. Will be getting my rice ready tomorrow and now know about drying it out, that should help. Thanks
Beryl

[top chef]

i tried this out a few months back, and since then its become a staple in my home. i just wanted to say thanks for the recipe. i also add a handful of chopped cilantro which is folded in at the end. this gives it a cleaner bite which i love with steaks.

[Linda]

My friend's children love the com ga roti (Vietnamese roasted chicken) at this restaurant (Pho 999 in Reseda, CA) that serves it on red rice. Their rice is quite good, but the chicken was very dry with very little meat - so I sought to recreate their dish by finding the recipes for both red rice and chicken. I have pasted the link to the ga roti recipe.

I just finished making com do with your recipe and I am guessing theirs is much sweeter because they add sugar. It took awhile to coat all of the rice with the tomato paste, as the rice was in chunks from being dried out in the fridge overnight. I didn't want to make 4 cups (in case I messed up) so I halved the rice to 2 and did 1 cup of water - came out great. I can't wait to make it for my friend's kids - they like red rice so much they pick the individual rice grains off their plate by hand! Chuc mung nam moi and thank you for the recipe!