Com Tam Vietnamese "Broken Rice" @ Quan Xing Mei Shi Mayflower Singapore 永興美食 • The Other Food Icon of Vietnam (Other than Pho)

Quan Xing Mei Shi & Vietnamese Food 永興美食 | 162 Ang Mo Kio Ave 4, stall #01-26, Singapore 560162 (Mayflower Market & Food Centre) 🚅 At Mayflower station Exit 3 ⏰ 7 am - 1:30 pm (pork chop rice available around 9am. Closed on Monday)

I enjoyed com tam in Ho Chi Minh City and around the Mekong Delta but have never come across it in Singapore.

Then, buddy Aaron told me that Quan Xing Mei Shi 永興美食, the laksa stall in Mayflower market & food centre has som tam type dish.

Quan Xing Mei Shi 永興美食 is originally a laksa stall but recently added Vietnamese dishes such as com tam into their menu.

Okay, it is a localised version of com tam which they quite accurately described as "special pork chop rice" in their menu.

As I love Vietnamese cuisine, I was eager to try it as soon as possible.

And so, here I am 😄

In Vietnam, there are many variations of Cơm Tấm featuring different toppings - at Quan Xing, it was a version of "Cơm Tấm Sườn Chả".

The iconic dish is traditionally eaten on a plate with fork and spoon instead of chopsticks.

The name com tam means "broken rice" - it is the defining feature of this Vietnamese dish. Mekong Delta rice farmers cook rice using broken rice damaged during the milling process. The full grains are sold for cash.

Com tam later found its way into Saigon in the 1970s. The humble staple became the pride of Saigon, leading to the Vietnamese phrase "Saigon people eat Cơm Tấm like Ha Noi people eat Pho".

The Quan Xing version has mostly whole grains, soft tender grains whereas in Vietnam, the broken rice have a nutty bite (which I prefer for com tam). Com tam feels best with broken rice, in my opinion (so it bites different in Singapore).

Mixed fish sauce or nước mắm pha served in a small bowl beside the cơm tấm dish.

Me, I bathed the rice with the entire bowl of sweet, sour, salty, savoury, spicy hot sauce 😄 The rice soaked with nước mắm pha infused its delicious complex flavours.

Personally, I find rice at Quan Xing a little too sweet for com tam, so I used a lot of fish sauce to balance it.

Sườn non or grilled pork ribs. Another defining ingredient of com tam. The flatten slabs of marinated pork chop ribs were grilled with sizzling grease on a flat griddle.

Over in Vietnam, the pork chop is often charcoal grilled.

Quan Xing's rendition was a bit firm, stiff, chewy but flavours were on point thanks to the savoury marination.

Scallion and oil garnish - chopped scallion lightly bathed in scorching hot oil to soften the vegetable and release its aromas. Served as an aromatic dressing on the pork chop and rice.

Chả trứng - Vietnamese steamed meatloaf omelette.

I like the soft minced pork, crunchy black fungus (wood ear mushroom), mung bean vermicelli (tang hoon), etc., covered with a layer of egg yolk glaze on top.

Various vegetables, such as sliced cucumber and tomato, with pickled vegetables such as carrot and radish pickles complete the dish.

Of course, the best place to enjoy com tam is in the southern part of Vietnam. This is an example 👈

But, in Singapore, if you crave for this dish, you can get com tam inspired pork chop rice at Quan Xing Mei Shi stall in Mayflower food centre to tide you over till your next Vietnam trip.