Part 2: Rice Combos
Rice combinations work the same way as vermicelli and pho. You’ll get a basic plate of steamed white rice, which comes with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, pickled daikon, pickled carrots, and a bowl of fish sauce. You also get up to 7 different types of meats from which to build your combo.
| English | Vietnamese | Description | Texture | Taste | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rice Combos | Meats | B.B.Q. Pork/Beef/Chicken | Thit Nuong, Bo Nuong, Ga Nuong | marinated steak is barbequed, then cut into smaller pieces ready for consumption | toughness vary between the three, but still very tender | very savoury. hints of sweet and salt |
| Shredded Pork | Bi | strings' of pork meat and pork skin mixed in rice powder | the meat is soft whereas the skin is a bit chewy | meat is unmarinated, but often the scent of rice powder dominates the taste buds | ||
| Steamed Egg w Minced Pork | Cha Trung | comes in block form and could look like cheese | loosely packed ground meat | hints of sweetness and salt | ||
| Jumbo Shrimp | Tom Cang Kho | jumbo shrimp sauteed in savoury sauce | softer than normal shrimps due to prolonged cooking | savoury, salty | ||
| Fried Egg | Trung Op-la | sunny side up or easy over egg | ||||
| Veggies | Lettuce | Cai Xanh | ||||
| Tomatoes | Ca Chua | |||||
| Cucumber | Dua Leo | |||||
| Pickled Daikon | Dua Cai Trang | thin strips of "white radish" | less crunchier than regular daikon | hints of sourness | ||
| Pickled Carrots | Dua Cai Do | thin strips of carrots | less crunchier than regular carrots | hints of sourness | ||
| Oiled Scallions | Mo Hanh | chopped scallions cooked in oil | a bit slimy, crunchy | |||
| Sauce | Fish Sauce | Nuoc Cham | accompanies the vermicelli to be poured over noodles as desired | hints of salt, lime and sugar | ||
| Fried Rice | Chicken Fried Rice | Com Chien Ga | fried rice with bits of vegetables and small chunks of chicken | rice is a bit dryer than regular steamed rice | various flavours from different ingredients | |
| Shrimp Fried Rice | Com Chien Tom | fried rice with bits of vegetables and shrimps | rice is a bit dryer than regular steamed rice | various flavours from different ingredients | ||
| Beef Fried Rice | Com Chien Bo | fried rice with bits of vegetables and small chunks of beef | rice is a bit dryer than regular steamed rice | various flavours from different ingredients | ||
| Seafood Fried Rice | Com Chien Do Bien | fried rice with bits of vegetables and seafood, which usually includes squid, crab meat, and shrimp | rice is a bit dryer than regular steamed rice, squid is chewy and crab meat is very soft | various flavours from different ingredients | ||
| Curry Rice | Curry Chicken | Com Ca Ri Ga | yellow curry sauce is either served over steamed rice, or in separate bowl. curry comes with medium size pieces of chicken | Vietnamese curry is a mild sauce, unlike its Thai and Indian counterparts. Its texture is more runny than thick | not as sweet as Thai, not as spicy as Indian, with hints of coconut | |
| Curry Lamb | Com Ca Ri De | yellow curry sauce is either served over steamed rice, or in separate bowl. curry comes with medium size pieces of lamb | Vietnamese curry is a mild sauce, unlike its Thai and Indian counterparts. Its texture is more runny than thick | not as sweet as Thai, not as spicy as Indian, with hints of coconut | ||
| Curry Beef | Com Ca Ri Bo | yellow curry sauce is either served over steamed rice, or in separate bowl. curry comes with medium size pieces of beef | Vietnamese curry is a mild sauce, unlike its Thai and Indian counterparts. Its texture is more runny than thick | not as sweet as Thai, not as spicy as Indian, with hints of coconut | ||
| Curry Shrimp | Com Ca Ri Tom | yellow curry sauce is either served over steamed rice, or in separate bowl. curry comes with whole shrimps | Vietnamese curry is a mild sauce, unlike its Thai and Indian counterparts. Its texture is more runny than thick | not as sweet as Thai, not as spicy as Indian, with hints of coconut |
One thing I’d like to note about rice combos is that they are traditionally served with steamed broken rice. Broken rice is basically broken rice grains. Nowadays most restaurant serve rice dishes with regular rice, probably because of the similarity between the two. The taste and texture are not any different from regular steamed rice, but the tradition is what some of us miss.
Some restaurants also serve fried rice and/or curry rice. With the fried rice, you’re sure to get good consistency between restaurants, whereas the curry varies a bit more. Either way, these are good alternatives to the plain steamed rice in the combos.
No kidding? that’s a lot of choices