Cơm Tấm Ba Ghiền: Broken Rice, Topped With Grilled Perfection

aaaauuuuuugghhhhh OM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM RIPRIPRIPRIPSLURPSHOVELSHOVEL. Check please!

Cơm Tấm is one of the most delicious and popular rice dishes among visitors to Saigon, and Cơm Tấm Ba Ghiền is where to go get it.

Hands down. End of review.

If you expect perfection on your first bite, head here. There is com tam all over the city, but few are turned out so excellently or consistently perfect as at this alley location in the midst of Phu Nhuan District. It's all they serve, after all, and they've been serving it for a long, long time.

Street Food IV: The Voyage Home, and What I Didn't Find There

Pork Sticky Rice (Xoi Man). Mandatory? No, not really. But pretty good.

Wow, it's been quite a while since I posted about my street food adventures, huh? Let's rectify that!

In between/during my Autumn posts, I got to visit my homes in North America, and I really appreciated for the first time what kind of environments I was bouncing between. The rapid changes threw their differences into sharp relief. It highlighted the good in each and reminded me that even the negatives sometimes serve a purpose.

One thing that really made me blink, however, was Chicago's lack of street-level activity. I'd never really noticed it before, but the streets are pretty dead here in America. Relatively speaking, of course. Now, I'm not generally a guy for crowds, but I really enjoy the vital atmosphere typical of virtually any Vietnamese street, and there's a LOT to be said for convenience, price, and quality.

Ok. True story: the weeks I was in the midwest were unseasonably cold (and then unseasonably warm... thanks Denver!) and Chicago's true character is naturally more visible in the warmer months of April-September, so there's that. Even then, however, Chicago doesn't have much of a street food scene to speak of.

To me, this has some clear benefits and losses.

A Filipino Food Digression

As long as I'm on a foodie kick on the blog, let me share with you all the delicious things I ate on my trip to Central Visayas in the Philippines!

I learned that there's a lot to love about Filipino food. It's the punch in the face you didn't know you needed, and tastes like home... no matter where your home is.

I was staying in the Iloilo/Guimaras region, and I got to see a very different kind of Asian culture. Rice is a staple, as in Vietnam, but the food as a whole is much more bold - vinegar makes a frequent appearance, as do features from Spain and other Filipino regional styles, which makes for eclectic, exciting eating.

I thought the most obvious attribute was the contrasting flavors. Vietnamese food often features such flavor pairings, like Salty, Sweet, Sour, and Savory, but usually to a much more subtle effect, and usually telling a story through texture, too. Filipino food stomps into the room with a bottle of brandy and a bucket of fried chicken skins, and tells you to get the cups! Flavor, texture, nutrition (or not), this cuisine has got it all going on, and it loves to tell you all about itself... and it wants you to know that you, too, have a home in the Philippines.

A very special thank you to my friend Rey! I couldn't have properly labeled this post without you. Thanks for a truly mind-expanding trip! Some of the best food I've ever eaten, hands down.

DISCLAIMER: I haven't tried most of these recipes, but they're on my list!

ABOVE:

Tapsilog

Tapa - Beef
Sinangag - friend rice (With lots of garlic!)
Itog - Egg

Served with a dish of vinegar! This extremely simple meal can be ordered just about anywhere, and is most commonly made for breakfast with the day-old rice from the night before. This was my favorite breakfast. It's as delicious, with fewer ingredients, as many of my favorite Vietnamese breakfasts.

MAKE IT AT HOME: http://panlasangpinoy.com/2014/12/12/tapsilog-recipe/

Only one of a few Silogs, as you'll see below!