Plain white rice

If you have ever tried “Cơm Trắng” (Vietnamese plain boiled rice), you will find the difference from the boiled rice in other countries!

In an ordinary meal of Vietnamese people, together with a variety of different dishes, Com or plain boiled rice is an indespensable one, the most popular food at the main meals of the day (lunch and dinner).

Different cooking method makes “Cơm Trắng” different!

In Vietnam, Com is made from different kinds of rice, typically fragrant rice is used, such as Tam Thom and Nang Huong. The main ingredients of Vietnamese plain boiled rice are commonly as follows:
- 1 cup of rice.
- 2 cups of boiling water.
- 1 teaspoonful of salt.

So, how can you make the boiled rice really delicious? If you have chance to see how Vietnamese people make a good pot of boiled rice, you will notice that its process is not so difficult. Firstly, pick the rice over, taking out all the bits of brown husk; fill the outside of the double boiler with hot water, ans put in the rice, salt and water, and cook forty minutes, but do not stir it. Then take off the cover from the boiler, and very gently, without stirring, turn over the rice with a fork; put the disk in the oven without the cover, and let it stand and dry for ten minutes. Then turn it from the boiler into a hot dish, and cover.

Other rice–made foods...

Beside the above-mentioned recipe of “Cơm Trắng”, the Vietnamese people created many other rice-made foods, such as: rice ball, fried rice, rice gruel, steamed glutinous rice. Among them, making a rice ball (“Cơm nắm” in Vietnamese) is so interesting! “Cơm nắm” is a Vietnamese rice dish pressed into cylinder or sphere shape, which is sold in small alleys in Hanoi by vendors. This dish is very familiar with Vietnamese people. “Cơm nắm” has become a cheap but delicious rustic gift. When being fed up with nutritious food like vermicelli or “phở”, people often look for a frugal dish like “Cơm nắm” served with roasted sesame and ground nut.

Do you think it is easy to make a rice ball? A lot of people may say “Yes”, and you can obey the following simple process to make perfect a rice ball. To begin with, you boil the rice in a rice cooker. Please bear in mind that you have to make rice balls while the rice is hot or else it will not stick together. Next, with your wet hands put a pinch of salt on your palms. Then, you put rice on your hand and wad up the rice and shape like cylinder or sphere. “Cơm nắm” is served with not only sesame but also other things, such as stewed fish, simmered pork or salted shredded meat. However, salted roasted sesame (and ground nut) is still the first choice. The dish is so delicious that you surely would like to taste more than once... The rice is white clear, soft and used to be wrapped in a green banana leaf, which is so attractive. However, today some people replace it with a plastic bag or paper. The salted sesame is roasted light brown and grated, which has an appealing fragrance. “Cơm nắm” is cut into slices and served with this sesame or/and ground nut. The sweetness of rice combining with the buttery taste of sesame is so unique that can not be found anywhere in the world.

Being in Vietnam, you are strongly recommended to give you the chance for enjoying “Cơm Trắng” with dishes of pork, fish, shrimp and vegetable cooked in oil, as well as vegetables, pickles, etc. Have good appetite!