Dien Bien nuong sticky rice is “something that cannot be found anywhere else,” says Maze Vietnam. “To turn this special ingredient into a perfect dish, it takes the local people a long time to prepare and go through a complicated process of cooking,” which includes soaking the rice in water for hours “in order to make it more tender.” Then cooking it twice “in a special utensil provided by the ethnic minority,” and then decorating it “with colorful vegetable to look elaborate.”