Broken rice (or com tam) has become a must-try dish for locals, foreign visitors, and travellers to Vietnam. (Photo toplist.vn) This traditional dish of Vietnam is cooked from broken rice, once consideredfood for the poor. Still, nowadays, it has become a special popular dish in thecountry, particularly in Hanoi and HCM City, TasteAtlas said, noting thatJapanese sushi ranked first.
A friend of mine, Chiam Jia Xine from Malaysia, said during his recent trip to Hanoi,he was interested in not only bun cha (vermicelliwith grilled pork and fresh herbs) and raumuong xao (fried morning glory with garlic) but also broken rice.
“I like broken rice eaten with grilled sour and sweet pork ribs and salad madefrom the mix of cucumber, tomato slices, minced garlic and chilli,” he said,noting that he enjoyed the dish because the rice is soft, fragrant and sweet.
Different from the Vietnamese habit of using chopsticks, this rice dish is usedtable wares like those of Western people, he commented.
Came into being from Sai Gon (now HCM City) in the early 20th century, when thecountry had entered into the urbanisation process, broken rice has becomepopular in almost southern provinces to meet increasing demands, said HCM Cityresident Dang Hong Minh, 80.
When becoming the country’s biggest tourism hub, luring a lot of foreigntourists, travellers, and businesses, sellers in the city have served tablewares to make the dish suitable for foreign guests instead of using chopsticksand bowls as before, Minh said.
Today com tam has become asymbol of Saigon cuisine. It is often said that “Saigon people eat broken riceas much as Hanoians eat pho (noodlesoup)”.
In the past, com tam wasconsidered rice for poor people because the broken rice was considered chickenfood. But when people discovered it's tastier and rich in protein and vitaminssuch as B1, it became a famous speciality that local dinners and foreignerswish to enjoy, Minh said.
The main ingredients to be eaten with a comtam plate include grilled sour and sweet pork ribs, nem chao (boiled pork skin cut intothreads, cut bacon mixed with fish sauce, roasted rice powder and spice) andmany others.
Restaurants are serving broken rice with fried tofu, braised pork and steamedegg mixed with minced pork, vermicelli pieces, wood ears, fragrant mushroom,fresh onions and spicy (locally known as comtam cha); fried fish, and boiled chicken, said Minh.
There are different styles of com tam. They include broken ricecooked in a tinny earthen pot, fried broken rice in Vietnamese or Thai recipesor com chao, which means brokenrice, vegetable, meat and eggs are poured into the pan, stirred and enjoyedhot.
In 2012, CNN remarked street broken rice is an attractive and popular dish in Saigon,while in August of the same year, the Asia Book of Records recognised Saigonbroken cuisine value together with nine other Vietnamese dishes.
Furthermore, EBS TV of the Republic of Korea also praised broken rice as thespecial characteristics dish of Saigon, saying those visiting the city andfailing to try the dish may not fully understand it./.
VNA
