Steamy Breakfast Dish Lingers

For the low-income Saigonese, xôi, the Vietnamese steamed glutinous rice, remains a traditional breakfast dish on account of its affordability


Go to Le Loi Boulevard in District 1, the main street of Saigon, and turn left at the corner of Pasteur Street. Then turn left again at the first crossroads, and you will see an old power post on Le Thanh Ton Street. It is in old style. We can’t tell exactly how long this post has been erected, but we can say that it has been there for several decades.
Every morning from six to around nine, at the foot of the post sits an old woman who sells xôi, a Vietnamese breakfast dish. The old woman is said to have been there in the morning for decades. Her experience in the trade is as old as the power post on the corner, says a Saigonese blogger.

Typically, xôi is prepared by steaming nep, the Vietnamese word for sticky rice. Ready-to-eat xôi can be in different colors. If lá da (Pandanus amaryllifolius, a tropical plant widely used in Southeast Asian cuisine) is used, xôi will be light green. If np than, the dark-purple sticky rice, is used, it will have the same color of the rice. Xôi will be bright orange if gc, or balsam apple, is plants.

The “opposite” offshoot of xôi ngt is xôi mn (“salty” xôi or xôi with meat). Variations of the topping include Chinese pork sausage (xôi lp xng), chicken meat (xôi gà) or fried pork fiber (xôi chà bông).

Xôi is still a common breakfast dish in Saigon becait’s affordable to low-income people and students. Even nowadays, with VND5,000 (about 25 U.S. cents), one can have a packet of xôi which helps him or her survive in the morning.

Xôi ngt is popular across Vietnam. Yet no places in this country could boast a better variety than Saigon when it comes to xôi mn.

As Saigonese incomes improve, xôi mn has become more common. A favorite shop of xôi mn in Saigon is at the corner of District 1’s Bui Thi Xuan and Cong Quynh streets. There, from dawn till dusk, eaters sit on low stools to enjoy their favorite xôi dishes.

In Saigon, Cao Thang Street in District 3 can be given the title “the Street of Xôi.” In the evening, part of this street is lined with xôi carts. They can be easily recognized by several big evaporating aluminum or stainless steel steamers.

One of the colleagues told Saigon Stories the following story. Living in an apartment in Binh Thanh District, almost every day he bought xôi from a street vendor in her twenties. She attracted many customers from the apartment building becaher xôi was delicious and at reasonable prices. In the morning, a long queue of customers was made in front of her bicycle, waiting for their turn.

Somebody asked why she didn’t think of expanding her business by hiring a shop or buying a hand-cart. The woman replied she didn’t have enough money for the first option, and was afraid that she would illegally occupy the pavement in the second.

One day, her veteran customers were surprised when she informed them that she would quit her trade to learn office skills and English to find a different job. They began regretting a cheap yet good breakfast dish and the gentle and caring manner of the vendor.

A few months later, residents in the apartment building were surprised again when the vendor and her bicycle re-emerged. They were happy as they could have a good breakfast at cheap price once more. The vendor said learning new skills proved to be too difficult for her. “It’s better for me to sell xôi,” she said.

Chains of fast-food continue to grow across the city, forming a new habit among young Saigonese who choose hamburgers and potato chips as their favorite snacks. Xôi still lingers on, though. In the morning, at many schools, especially in the less affluent districts, street vendors selling xôi in their carts or baskets are there to serve students. You can witness one of these scenes at Cao Thang Technical School on Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street. Every morning on schooldays, a forty-something man parks his bike around the corner to sell xôi to students.

As Saigonese are embracing new lifestyles and business practices, xôi remains a breakfast dish, particularly for the less affluent people.

Source SaigonTimes