Xôi — Vietnamese Sticky Rice, Sweet and Savoury

What Is Xôi?

Xôi is Vietnamese sticky rice — glutinous rice steamed until soft and slightly chewy, then topped or mixed with a wide variety of sweet or savoury additions. It is one of the most versatile and universally eaten foods in Vietnamese cuisine, present at breakfast, as a street snack, at celebrations and ceremonies, and as a late-night comfort food. Unlike the steamed jasmine rice eaten with everyday meals, xôi is made from glutinous (waxy) rice varieties that cling together when cooked, producing a dense, satisfying texture that holds toppings well and travels easily in a banana leaf parcel.

Vietnam's xôi culture is ancient and deeply tied to the country's agricultural and ceremonial life. Sticky rice appears in Vietnamese legend, poetry, and ritual — it is the rice offered at ancestral altars, the food brought to weddings and Tết celebrations, and the first solid food many Vietnamese children eat.

Savoury vs. Sweet: Two Worlds of Xôi

Vietnamese xôi divides into two broad families:

Xôi mặn (savoury sticky rice) — topped with proteins, fried shallots, scallion oil, and sometimes fried eggs. The most commonly eaten form, particularly for breakfast. Popular varieties include xôi gà (with shredded chicken), xôi xéo (with mung bean paste and fried shallots), xôi lạp xưởng (with Chinese sausage), xôi thịt kho (with braised pork), and xôi trứng (with fried egg).

Xôi ngọt (sweet sticky rice) — made with coconut milk, sugar, and coloured with natural ingredients. Varieties include xôi gấc (brilliant red from gấc fruit), xôi lá cẩm (purple from butterfly pea flowers), xôi đậu phộng (with peanuts and coconut), and xôi dừa (with shredded coconut).

Xôi for Breakfast: A Northern Tradition

In Hanoi and the north, xôi is quintessentially a breakfast food. Early morning xôi vendors — typically women carrying shoulder poles laden with covered baskets — set up on street corners and outside markets from 5 a.m. The baskets hold several varieties of xôi kept warm under cloth, and the vendor scoops servings onto banana leaf with a wooden paddle, tops them to order, and wraps them up in seconds.

Eating xôi standing at a street corner, unwrapping the banana leaf parcel slowly to release the steam, is one of the most characteristically Hanoian morning experiences.

Xôi Xéo: The Hanoi Classic

Among all savoury varieties, xôi xéo is the most representative of Hanoi's xôi tradition. The base is plain steamed sticky rice, topped with a generous layer of smooth mung bean paste (đậu xanh), then finished with crispy fried shallots and a drizzle of scallion-infused oil. The combination of sticky, slightly sweet rice, earthy mung bean, and the deep caramelised crunch of shallots is simple but profoundly satisfying.

Good xôi xéo is judged by the quality of the shallots — they must be properly fried, golden and crispy, not pale and soft.

Ceremonial and Festival Xôi

Xôi gấc deserves special mention as Vietnam's most visually striking rice dish. The gấc fruit (Momordica cochinchinensis) produces a vivid red-orange pulp that, when mixed with the glutinous rice before steaming, dyes the grains an extraordinary deep crimson. Xôi gấc is served at weddings, Tết (Lunar New Year), and anniversary ceremonies — its colour is considered auspicious and its preparation is a mark of respect for the occasion.

Xôi lá cẩm, dyed deep purple with butterfly pea flower extract, is associated with the ethnic minority communities of northwestern Vietnam and has become a popular artisan food in Vietnamese cities.

How Xôi Is Cooked

Traditional xôi is cooked in a bamboo steaming basket (chõ) set over a pot of boiling water, rather than in a rice cooker. The glutinous rice is soaked overnight to soften the grains, then drained and packed into the basket to steam for 20–30 minutes. This method produces a more even, slightly firmer texture than electric steaming. Many xôi vendors and households still use the traditional bamboo steamer.

Xôi as Street Food and Festival Food

Beyond its role as breakfast, xôi is central to Vietnamese celebration food. Every regional festival, wedding, and ancestor-worship ceremony features multiple varieties of xôi. At Tết, xôi gấc is prepared in large quantities and shared among family members. At communal feasts, coloured xôi varieties arranged together on a tray — red, purple, yellow, white — are as much a visual statement as a culinary one.

In Ho Chi Minh City and the south, xôi is eaten more casually and at later hours than in the north. Southern xôi shops serve throughout the day and evening, and the variety of toppings — including Chinese-influenced additions like lap cheong sausage, fried egg, and pork floss — is broader than in Hanoi.

Where to Find the Best Xôi

• Hanoi: The xôi carts on Nguyễn Hữu Huân Street near Hoàn Kiếm Lake are famous. Xôi Yến (35B Nguyễn Hữu Huân) is a dedicated xôi restaurant that has operated for decades.
• Throughout the north: Any early morning market or street corner in a northern Vietnamese town will have an excellent xôi vendor operating before 8 a.m.
• Ho Chi Minh City: Xôi shops in the Phú Nhuận and District 3 areas are particularly well regarded.

Price Guide

Practical Tips

• Go before 8 a.m. The best xôi vendors sell out by mid-morning.
• Try xôi xéo first. It is the most nuanced of the savoury varieties and the best introduction to Hanoi xôi culture.
• Eat it from a banana leaf. The leaf adds a faint grassy fragrance that enhances the rice.
• Order xôi gấc at Tết. If you visit Vietnam during Lunar New Year, this is the ceremonial sticky rice to seek out.