An Giang is famous with great mountains and lots of pagodas, Tra Su forest, Tuc Dup Hill, etc. The province has lots of specialty foods that should not be missed. Long Xuyen Broken rice is an An Giang’s delicious and healthy food, containing broken rice, pork, eggs, pickles and fish sauce dip.
Long Xuyen Broken rice is called Cơm tấm Long Xuyên in Vietnamese. The food consists of steamed broken rice, topped with braised pork and eggs which are cut into juliennes, pork skin strips (Bì), daikon, carrot, morning glory pickles, fried pork fat cubes, green onion oil, sometimes coriander. The sweet-salty fish sauce dip is the soul of Long Xuyen Broken rice and can not be missed when eating this amazing food. A rice bowl of soup is also served with the plate of broken rice.
Why is it called broken rice? Because the broken rice is two or three times smaller than the whole rice seed. They grind whole rice into broken rice, then steam it in a special pot which is similar to a steamer. Broken rice is easier to eat, the sauce can play off the broken rice more easily so that diners feel more comfortable to eat this kind of rice.
Broken rice or Cơm tấm is a specialty of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). It can be topped with any combination of grilled pork, braised pork, meatloaf, stir-fried dishes, other braised dishes, etc. In Long Xuyen and other regions in An Giang, the broken rice is usually topped with juliennes of braised pork and eggs. The crunchy, sweet and sour morning glory pickle is one of the highlights of this rice dish. Pork skin strips (Bì) are crunchy, a little sticky and a little tender. All toppings blend perfectly with the rice, they make diners eat until finish eating everything on their plates.
The soup usually has a clear broth, it can be cooked from pork bone, green onion, daikon, carrot, corn. It makes the steamed broken rice more comfortable to eat. In fact, Vietnamese people love to eat steamed rice with a main dish such as a braised dish, grilled dish, stir-fried dish. Piping hot soup and pickles go well with steamed rice and main dishes which is considered dry (“khô”) according to Vietnamese people.
Long Xuyen Broken rice
Long Xuyen Broken rice.
