Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Cơm tấm developed from the use of broken rice — considered inferior to whole grain and eaten by the poor of Saigon. Over time, the specific softness and starchiness of broken rice became recognised as uniquely suited to this style of dish, and cơm tấm became one of the city's defining foods.
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.
- Taiwanese lu rou fan (braised pork rice — the Taiwanese rice bowl with pork); Thai khao man gai (poached chicken rice with sauce — the Thai rice with protein tradition); Japanese oyakodon (chicken and egg rice bowl — the Japanese composed rice bowl).
Vietnamese drip coffee or Saigon lager — cơm tấm is eaten at any time of day in Ho Chi Minh City (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), and the beverage reflects the time. Morning: cà phê sữa đá. Lunch: cold lager. Evening: warm green tea.