Anyone who’s spent time in Vietnam’s highlands will have come across rượu nếp – rice wine. Made from fermented sticky rice, this is the liquor of choice for most Vietnamese who live at high altitudes or in the northern provinces, where winters can be bitterly cold. However, on my last visit to Cao Bang, in northeastern Vietnam, I was introduced to rượu nếp in its pure, non-liquid form: Rượu nếp hấp trứng is fermented glutinous rice mixed together with a chicken’s egg and then steamed to create a mildly alcoholic rice pudding……for breakfast.