- Broken rice grains, steamed
- Grilled pork chop (suon), shredded pork skin (bi), steamed egg cake (cha)
- Pickled daikon and carrot, cucumber, tomato
- Nuoc cham fish sauce, poured over
Com Tam
Com tam: broken rice with grilled pork, Saigon's working lunch. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Com tam means 'broken rice': the fractured grains left over from milling, once the food of the poor, now Saigon's beloved working lunch. A plate of the small, fragrant grains comes with a grilled pork chop, shredded pork skin, a steamed egg-and-mince cake, pickles and a pour of fish sauce.
It is eaten all day from street stalls with low plastic stools. The pork chop is marinated in lemongrass and grilled over charcoal; the egg cake (cha trung) is the dish's quiet star.
Key ingredients
Where to try it
- Com Tam Ba Ghien (84 Dang Van Ngu, Phu Nhuan): the famous stall.
- Com Tam Cali: the clean, air-conditioned chain version.
- Street stalls across Saigon at lunch: the charcoal smell is the sign.