P
Vietnamese · Ho Chi Minh City
Com Tam
Cơm tấm (broken rice) is the quintessential Ho Chi Minh City dish — broken jasmine rice (the short, irregular fragments from the milling process) served with grilled pork chop (sườn nướng), steamed pork and egg meatloaf (chả trứng), a fried egg, pickled carrots and daikon, cucumber, tomato, and sweet fish sauce dressing (nước mắm pha). The broken rice has a specific texture — softer and starchier than whole grain rice — that makes it ideal for absorbing the sweet-salty dressing.
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I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
200g
jasmine rice
Your own market
2
shallots
thinly sliced
Your own market
60ml
fish sauce
Your own market
30ml
lime juice
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2 cloves
garlic
minced
Your own market
1
Thai bird's eye chilli
sliced
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
15ml
vegetable oil
Your own market
2
eggs
Your own market
50g
ground pork (optional)
Your own market
40g
fresh Vietnamese herbs (mint
cilantro, dill)
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
II
The Method
1
Toast jasmine rice in a dry wok over medium heat for 2 minutes until fragrant, then cook with 300ml water in a 1:1.5 ratio until tender; cool completely.
2
Heat 15ml vegetable oil in wok over high heat, scramble eggs until just set, remove and reserve.
3
Add remaining oil, render shallots until golden and crisp, drain on paper towels, reserve oil.
4
Pound rice with mortar and pestle until broken into 60% individual grains, 40% small clusters.
5
Stir-fry broken rice in hot wok (using reserved shallot oil) for 3 minutes until heated through and grains separate.
6
Whisk together fish sauce, lime juice, minced garlic, and sliced chilli; toss with rice.
7
Top with scrambled egg, crispy shallots, and fresh herbs; serve immediately.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Where it lives or dies. The moment where cơm tấm lives or dies is the pork chop caramelisation — the lemongrass-fish sauce marinade contains significant sugar. When the chop hits a very hot charcoal grill, the sugar caramelises in seconds on the surface before the meat has time to cook through. This requires extremely high heat and a chop that is at room temperature before grilling. Cold chops from the refrigerator take too long to cook through, and the caramelised surface burns before the interior is done.
Pillar V
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Bushmills Malt 10 Year Old
Old Bushmills Distillery · County Antrim — Bushmills Distillery
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Whisky
From British Columbia
Wine
Without alcohol
GT's Synergy Organic Kombucha — Gingerade
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Non-alcoholic
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The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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