Cốm

Cốm is a traditional dish hailing from the Red River Delta region. Also known as green sticky rice or green rice flakes, the dish is prepared only in autumn. In order to prepare it, sticky rice is plucked manually so that the grains don't break. They are then selected, sifted, washed, dried, and pounded in stone mortars. The young rice is taken out from the mortar and winnowed, then placed into the mortar and pounded again, and the process is repeated seven times so that the husk is fully removed. After the pounding, the rice is wrapped in emerald lotus leaves so that it doesn't dry. The rice is eaten from the lotus leaves by hand, usually a pinch at a time. The flavors of young rice are nutty, sweet, and buttery. Cốm is often used in dishes such as bánh cốm (green sticky rice cake) and cốm xào (browned green sticky rice).