Directions

• Rinse rice until water runs clear.
• Add rice to a large bowl, cover with room temperature water, and soak for 5 hours.
• Drain rice, removing as much water as possible. Be very gentle because after soaking, the rice breaks easily. Set aside.
• Add gấc to a large bowl. If you’re using fresh or (thawed) frozen gấc that includes the whole seeds, peel the membrane away from the seeds.
  Set the seeds aside if you want to use them for presentation. Discard if you don’t.
• Add rice wine to the bowl and mix, breaking up the gấc to make a paste.
• Add the drained rice to the bowl along with the salt. Gently mix to coat all the rice in the gấc paste.
• Method 1: steamer
• Add water to the bottom pot and add the rice to the steamer basket in an even layer.
• Use your finger or a chopstick to make some holes in the rice. This allows for steam to escape through the rice layer, letting the rice cook more evenly and preventing the bottom from becoming mushy.
• Cover pot and heat on high. When you start seeing steam, reduce to medium high and cook for 30 minutes.
• Remove lid, sprinkle sugar over the rice and mix well, return lid. Cook for another 10 minutes.
• Method 2: rice cooker
• Add the rice to your rice cooker. Add water to just below the surface of the rice.
• Cook – using “white rice” setting if your cooker has it.
• When your cooker switches to the “keep warm” mode, add sugar and mix well.
• Turn on the cook setting again for another 5-10 minutes or until grains are fully cooked but not mushy. Every rice cooker is different!
• Presentation
• If you want to decorate with the seeds, rinse them until no longer sticky. Place at the bottom of your bowl or mold.
• Scoop the cooked rice into the bowl/mold and pack tightly.
• Cover with a plate and flip upside down.
• Serve with Vietnamese sausages, nem rán, or poached chicken!