Our culinary diary continues to bring to you a very very popular food in Vietnam in particular and Asia in general.Com or steamed rice is not the main dish but an indispensable one in the Vietnamese family meals. It is often served at lunch and dinner but some people even like to eat Com for breakfast.
Com is traditionally prepared in two ways: with or without salt. The process to make com is very simple. Firstly, rinse the rice under the running water, drain and place into a pot with water and a little salt if liked. The secret for a perfect com is that the water should be a fingertip above the top of the rice. When it comes to the boil, stir the rice, reduce the heat and cook for another 15 minutes.
With com, Vietnamese people could create several varieties such as fried rice and xoi (sticky rice). Fried rice is a tasty dish made with different ingredients including vegetables, meat, garlic, sausage and eggs. The ingredients may vary depending on your taste. The dish is not only easy to make but also absolutely delicious. 
Xoi is a dish made of glutinous rice that requires gluey texture after being a cook. The method to make xoi is similar to com. However, Vietnamese people often add coconut milk while steaming xoi to make it sweet-smelling. Normally, xoi is steamed together with cereal seeds such as mung beans, corns, catjangs, peanuts… For breakfast, xoi is often eaten with salty sesame and peanut, meat wool, Chinese sausage. The dish is so delicious that you surely would like to eat more… In the past, xoi is attractively wrapped in banana leaf but now it is replaced by plastic bag or paper.
As for the Vietnamese people, com is not only a dish. It is also a way to express culture to foreign tourists. Thus, if you would like to explore our cuisine, have a meal at a Vietnamese friend or taste the dishes made with com.