Cơm Tấm
Saigon's broken rice dish, born of resourcefulness: rice grains that shattered during milling were once sold cheap or fed to animals, and Mekong Delta farmers kept them for their own meals, before the dish rose to Saigon street-food prominence by the 1950s. The broken rice grains themselves are the real authenticity marker — using whole-grain rice is a common outside substitution that misses the point of the dish's frugal origin.
Meat
⚠ Contains: Fish, Egg. Always check your own ingredients — this isn't a guarantee for severe allergies.
Ingredients
- 2 cups broken rice
- 4 thin bone-in pork chops
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 shallot, minced
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 stalk lemongrass, minced
- Black pepper
- Pickled carrot and daikon, to serve
- Cucumber, sliced, to serve
- Scallion oil, to serve
- Fried egg (optional), to serve
Steps
- Marinate the pork chops in garlic, shallot, fish sauce, sugar, lemongrass, and pepper for at least 2 hours, ideally longer.
- Grill or pan-sear the pork chops until charred and cooked through.
- Cook the broken rice.
- Plate the rice topped with the pork chop, pickled carrot and daikon, cucumber, and scallion oil.
- Serve with a small bowl of nước chấm dipping sauce, and a fried egg if desired.