Pandan Sticky Rice (Xôi Lá Dứa)
Learn how to cook pandan sticky rice at home with just 6 simple ingredients. This Vietnamese classic gets its vibrant green color and delicate floral aroma from fresh pandan leaves and coconut milk. Garnish it with grated coconut and roasted peanuts for a sweet and nutty snack!
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup (150 g) uncooked sticky rice
- 1 cup (240 ml) water
- 4 fresh pandan leaves chopped into 2.5-inch (6 cm) pieces
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pandan extract
Sweetened coconut milk
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) coconut milk
- 2 tsp (8 g) sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
Instructions
- Rinse the rice. Before starting, you will need to rinse the sticky rice. To do so, add it to a medium-sized bowl and cover with cold water. Stir the rice a few times and drain it. Repeat this step 2-3 times or until the water is almost clear. Keep the drained rice in the bowl and set it aside.
- Blend the pandan leaves. Add the water and chopped pandan leaves to a high-speed blender. Blend on high speed for 10-15 seconds. Let it sit for about 5 minutes to allow the water to absorb the flavor of the pandan leaves.
- Strain the juice. Next, strain the pandan juice using a fine-sieve mesh and transfer it to the bowl containing the rice. Discard the pandan pulp. Add the salt and pandan extract and stir to combine.
- Soak overnight. Cover the bowl of rice with plastic wrap and let it soak overnight or for at least 6 hours. After that, your rice will have taken a beautiful green color!
- Arrange a steamer. Bring a pot filled with about 3 cups of water to a boil. Then, wet a thin cotton cheesecloth and place it inside a bamboo steamer basket.
- Drain the rice. Drain the soaked sticky rice and transfer it to the steamer basket. Spread it into an even layer. Close the basket with its lid.
- Steam the rice for 10 minutes. Place the bamboo basket steamer over the pot of boiling water and steam the rice for 10 minutes.
- Prepare the coconut milk. In the meantime, add the coconut milk, sugar, and salt to a small bowl. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Drizzle the coconut milk. After 10 minutes, open the lid of the steamer and slowly drizzle the sweetened coconut milk over the sticky rice. Use a spoon or a pair of chopsticks to stir the rice to combine.
- Steam for another 10 minutes. Close the lid and steam for another 10 to 15 minutes or until the rice is tender but still slightly chewy. Your rice is now ready!
- Serve. You can garnish the sticky rice with a lot of freshly grated coconut (or coconut flakes if you don't have fresh coconut), a handful of roasted peanuts, and an optional sweet and salty sesame and peanut topping.For the sesame/peanut topping: Crush 2 tablespoons of roasted peanuts and combine them with 1 tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds, 1.5 tablespoons of sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. You can then sprinkle the mix over the rice and enjoy!
- While it's best to cook the rice right before serving, you can store and reheat any leftovers. Keep them in the fridge for up to 2 days. To reheat, place the cooked sticky rice in a steamer and steam it for about 5 minutes to warm it up.
Notes
Do not skip soaking the rice!
It’s essential to soak the sticky rice for a minimum of 6 hours. This allows the grains to absorb water, resulting in a better texture after steaming. For information, I have tried skipping soaking, and it resulted in rice that was not evenly cooked – it was tender on the outside but almost hard on the inside.Use pandan extract.
Seriously, if you want your rice to have a vibrant green color, then pandan extract is critical. I’ve tried omitting it, and while the rice still tasted good, it only had a light yellow color.Steamer vs. Pressure Cooker
There are different ways to cook sticky rice, from steaming to pressure cooking. Here, I am using the steaming method to cook the rice. It’s the traditional way and my preferred option, as it allows you to test the doneness of the rice more easily than with a pressure cooker.