Banh chung
Banh chung is a popular sticky rice dish in Vietnamese cooking. The meal takes sticky rice, wrapping it in banana leaves, and stuffs it with mung bean paste, lean porn, and black pepper. With Lunar New Year passing us only days ago, banh chung is a very traditional meal to celebrations like this. If you aren’t sure about rice or sticky rice, in general, you will find banh chung’s a pretty great place to start with this category of Vietnamese eating.
Co gar au thom
Co gar au thom is a form of chicken and rice with mint. The dish starts with cooking rice in stock before topping it with chicken pieces and a variety of Vietnamese herbs. The fried mint garnish enhances the flavors of the rice as well as its texture. In a lot of cases, there’s an extra special Vietnamese herb sauce which gets prepared and served on the side with co gar au thom. For those who haven’t tried mint-flavored rice before, this may turn out to be your new favourite dish.
Rau muong xao toi
Rau muong xao toi is a relatively rare rice dish that mixes in water spinach sautéed with garlic, topped to taste with soy sauce. This is one dish, like a small number of others on this list, that do not always involve traditional rice. In fact, to make rau muong xao toi, a lot of the ingredients can’t necessarily be found in mainstream Canadian grocery stores. This makes variants more popular than the actual real thing.
Com tam
Com tam takes grilled pork and mixes it with pork skin, fried ground rice, and over more broken rice. Com tam is almost always served central on tastes of barbecue beef, pork, or chicken, always with serving sauces like a fish or sweet and sour based sauce.
Ga xao gung
Ga xao gung is a lesser known rice dish that involves sautéing chicken and then adding strong ginger taste alongside fish sauce. In a city like Toronto, ga xao gung is hard to find as it’s an unexpected taste to most Canadians. For the adventurous, trying to create real, authentic Vietnamese ga xao gung can prove to be an interesting exercise in opening yourself up to new tastes.
Com hen
You will find a lot of common rice dishes on this list that you’ve probably tried but com hen isn’t one of them. Com hen is very standard to Vietnam, consisting of rice with clams. Like many Vietnamese rice dishes, com hen is inexpensive to prepare. It’s also very popular in cities. Com hen is usually created from baby mussels or baby clams, served at room temperature unlike warmer, hotter rice dishes.
Com chien duong chau
Com chien duong chau is well-known in China as well as in Vietnam. Influenced heavily by Chinese-style cooking, it is a fried rice dish usually bringing together cooked shrimp, chopped scallions, egg yolks, peas, and carrots. It is a very basic version of fried rice and one that is well known here in Canada. You’ll find rice like com chien duong chau served in virtually any and every Vietnamese restaurant in Toronto.
Bo luc lac
Bo luc lac is one of the best beef rice dishes in Vietnamese cooking. You start with sautéing the beef, then adding in cucumber, tomatoes, onion, pepper, and soy sauce. Bo luc lac is a fine example of a French-influenced Vietnamese dish. As Vietnam was under French occupation throughout a period of several years, one will find hints of French cooking spread across the country’s entire cuisine.
Com chien ca man
Com chien ca man is a combination of fried rice with salty fermented fish, pieces of shredded chicken, and chopped snow peas. Often saltier than the average Vietnamese rice dish, com chien ca man is a combination of Chinese and Vietnamese cooking styles. In addition to the ingredients mentioned, you can also add in vegetables of your choosing such as peas and carrots.
Xoi
Xoi is a sticky rice dish that brings in tastes from coconut milk. It is cooked just like one would with regular rice. The result of using the coconut milk however is a result wherein the rice is firmer in texture, more flavorful, and which can be adapted into different dishes – from the traditional to creative variations.
Have you tried Vietnamese rice before?
If you walk into a Toronto Vietnamese restaurant and ask for Vietnamese rice today, what you receive is pretty standard. Rice has the benefit of being adaptable to so many different flavor profiles. The fact that it’s an energy-giving carb also makes it a go-to to include in a variety of dishes that may be a little light on the ‘filling’. Rice can be included in soups, beside salads, in breakfast, dinner, and lunch. Always in small portions, rice has proven to be a very kind and purposeful ingredient in Vietnamese cuisine.
Do you want to enjoy some Vietnamese cooking tonight – no need to start the stove! Come on down to TorontoPHO and indulge in some pho, salad, or rice. Choose your favourites and find yourself in heaven.
