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SAIGON STREET EATS
MIDDAY MUNCHIES
Despite lunchtime normally being
simple and quick (the Saigonese
are always on the go), be ready for
something a little heavier. This
being Asia, there’s always rice on
the menu — and here in the South,
it’s likely to come in the form of
com tam
, or “broken rice”. It’s a
version of the classic rice combo
plate that came about when local
farmers started using damaged rice
grains for their meals.
Sometimes boiled with
chicken stock, this fluffy
alternative to steamed rice is
paired with different meats and
vegetables at
com binh dan
(it
means “commoners’ rice”) stalls
throughout the city. You simply
point at the dishes you like and
have it arranged on your table like
a personal buffet. If you’re unsure
which ingredients to get, simply
order the
com tam suon trung
— that’s broken rice with sweet,
lemongrass-infused pork chops
and a fried egg — for a classic but
hard-to-beat combination.
But there are noodles as well.
For that, there’s an eating house,
streetside stall or hole-in-the-wall
on practically every corner of
Saigon. If pho is the
king of all Vietnamese
noodle bowls, the
queen is most likely
hu tieu
— a tasty pork
broth-based soup
that boasts a variety of
toppings not commonly
seen in the former. For starters, hu tieu
can have anything from thin tapioca
glass noodles to flat white rice noodles,
or the even transparent “cellophane”
noodles. It’s also topped with pieces
of Mekong shrimp, pork liver, dried
squid, chopped onions and many other
ingredients. The result is a steaming,
savory-sweet concoction that offers
plenty to munch, slurp and chew on.
Dai Phat Restaurant at 275 Le Thanh
Ton is a good spot to get acquainted
with the noodle queen.
Another popular lunchtime
noodle is the yellowwheat-
flour variety called
mi.
These
thin and curly tummy fillers
resemble instant noodles, but their
preparation methods — not to
mention their taste — are worlds
apart. You won’t have to look hard
to find mi, because they’re usually
kept in baskets right behind a
hawker’s glass counter. Don’t
