Dishes · A classic of Vietnamese · Saigon
Cơm tấm
Broken rice with a grilled lemongrass pork chop, shredded pork skin, a slice of steamed egg and pork loaf, pickles and nước chấm.
What makes it cơm tấm
- Broken rice, steamed — softer and denser than whole grains.
- A thin pork chop marinated in lemongrass, fish sauce and sugar, grilled over charcoal.
- Spring onion oil, pickles and a bowl of nước chấm.
Where it comes from
Tấm are the broken grains left over from milling, once sold cheap and eaten by those who couldn't sell them. Saigon made them its own: cơm tấm is sold on nearly every street from early morning, and a plate of it is as much the south's everyday meal as phở is the north's.
How it varies
- Cơm tấm sườn bì chả
- The full plate: chop, shredded pork skin and steamed egg-and-pork loaf.
- Cơm tấm ốp la
- With a fried egg.
Be the first here
Start your own cơm tấmNo one here has made cơm tấm yet. Start it as v1, and every version after is an experiment the next cook can learn from.
Near it
VietnameseNước chấmFish sauce thinned with water, sharpened with lime, sweetened with sugar, with garlic and chilli floating on top.No one here has made it yet
VietnameseBún chảGrilled pork patties and pork belly in a warm, sweet-sour fish sauce dressing, with cold rice noodles and herbs.No one here has made it yet