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9 Must-Try Dishes in Vietnam

One dish served fresh every day.
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Slide 8 of 10
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Com Tam

This dish of mixed pork grill with broken rice is a staple in Vietnamese restaurants stateside, but I’ve never had a version as tasty as this one. The pork steak is glazed with fish sauce, honey and white pepper, the meat loaf is delicate and sealed with a thin omelet, the tripe is stringy but not tough, just pliable enough to add another texture in your mouth. But the star of the dish is the broken rice: sticky, sweet, fragrant and texturally uneven in a manner that is playful and unexpected. Historically, it was the rice kernels that broke during the milling process. Considered to be less desirable, they were sold cheaply or given away to peasants. In their hands, they have turned it into something downright sexy.

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