The ingredients to make kem xoi include sticky rice, fresh ice cream, fresh milk, yoghurt, coconut juice, white sugar, and la nep (pandan leaves). The leaves have a fragrance similar to new glutinous rice with a green colour.

The rice has to be soaked for 8-10 hours while the pandan leaves are ground with water and strained to ensure that no fibre remains. These two ingredients should be mixed well before steaming.

After the 'xoi' (sticky rice) is steamed, it should be mixed with coconut juice as the xoi is greasy. The next step is to mix the yoghurt, fresh milk and ice cream and whisk well until the mixture becomes smooth, freeze it for two hours, then whisk it again twice more to ensure that the mix does not have any pieces of ice left.

The final step is to draw the steamed xoi into a bowl and let it cool, then cover it with the mixed cream and top it with fresh coconut threads or roasted peanuts.

Source: Nhan Dan

Kem xoi a summer treat to beat the Hanoi heat

Nguyen Thu Loan from Germany loves getting the chance to enjoy Hanoi’s special treat kem xôi (sticky rice ice cream) when she returns to Vietnam.