Chètroinước (Vietnamese glutinous rice balls with ginger syrup)

What is Chetroinuoc?

Chètro in ước is a classic Vietnamese dessert that is often served at celebratory events and important family gatherings.

You can enjoy it whenever it is served on Vietnamese Chinese New Year (tết), first birthday celebration (thôinôi), or whenever a sweet craving hits.

Also known as Vietnamese mochi, these extra rice balls are served in warm ginger syrup. If you love crunchy textures, have extra ginger to use up, or even better, it’s a great dessert.

The key to the wonderful bowl of Chètroinước has a soft, chewy outer shell (made from glutinous rice flour) with a sweet mungen filling.

This dessert is very similar to Vietnamese fried sesame balls (bangkams) that are fried cousins.

Unlike buncams, which are crispy on the outside and enjoy as finger food, these mochimiren rice balls are simmered in thick, fragrant ginger syrup.

It is then topped with a creamy drizzle in the optional sweetened coconut milk sauce (nướccốtdừa). It’s chewy, creamy and very tasty. It definitely reminds me of my childhood.

What you need

Sticky rice flour – Also known as sweet rice powder or mochiko, this is the key to a chewy rice ball. Do not replace it with regular rice flour. It’s not going well. Hot water – is used to mix with glutinous rice flour to form dough. There’s no need to boil. The hot water from the faucet is fine. Hot water makes the dough more flexible for a simple shape. Peeled Split Mang Beans – Used in sweet fillings. It is available immediately in the Asian market. Salt and sugar – season with mungen. Ginger – Fresh ginger gives the syrup a fragrant, spicy kick, and is an absolute must for this dessert. Ground ginger can be operated in a pinch, but is not recommended. Palm Sugar or Brown Sugar – Palm Sugar is traditional and gives a deeper flavor. If you don’t have palm sugar, brown sugar is a good alternative. Sweetened Coconut Milk Sauce – A thick, creamy white mixture of coconut milk, sugar, a bit of salt, and fragrant pandan leaves. This sauce is used in many Vietnamese pudding desserts known as Choi and can be made in advance. Find the complete recipe here. Roasted Sesame – Add crunches and nuts as toppings. Find them at most grocery stores or toast the raw sesame seeds in dried bread.

How to make chetroinuoc

Step 1: Make the dough

In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour and hot water. Mix and knead until smooth dough is obtained.

Don’t want to add any water. Continue mixing and eventually it’s all together.

It has proven to be extremely useful to achieve this using chopsticks and whisks. Once they start to coagulate together, use your hands to mix.

Step 2: Make a filling ball

Rinse the peeled mungen until the water is clear.

Add rinsed mungen and enough water to cover 1 inch in medium bread.

Cook over medium heat until boiling, reduce heat and continue cooking until the beans are tender, but still maintain their shape (about 15 minutes). Carefully monitor the pot and reduce the heat if necessary to prevent it from boiling.

Drain the beans and heat to return them to the stove to evaporate any remaining water. Add salt and sugar. Then use a large spoon to grind it and mix it into the coarse paste. It doesn’t have to be smooth.

If you find that the mixture is too soft to process and cannot form it into small bowls, cooling it will make it easier to manage.

Roll the filling into a small bowl about ½ inch (about 28) diameter.

Be careful not to let the mungen filling spill out of the wrapper as cooking will leak and the bowls will fall apart. At that point there is no way to save it.

Use the remaining dough to form small balls without filling.

Once done, cover and set aside to prevent drying.

Gently drop the bowl into the syrup to be cooked. Cook gently on a medium low heat and until floated (about 20 minutes).

Size variations and additional filling

The great thing about Chètroinước is that it doesn’t have to all be the same size.

Some are large, some are medium, some are small. The remaining mochi wrappers can be wrapped in small, vibrant mochi pearls.

If you have remaining Mung Bean Filling, set it aside as a topping for your serving options. Do not cook them with ginger syrup with dumplings, as they fall apart without a casing.

Storage and reheat

Store leftovers in the room temperature (within one day) or in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Refrigerated mochi balls can harden. To soften them, reheat the sstovetop or microwaves at small intervals until warm.

Reheat the coconut milk sauce in the same way individually. When ready, combine the mochi balls and sauce.

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