Vietnamese Broken Rice Plate with Lemongrass Pork Chops

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

The full com tam plate, built in three manageable stages: thin pork chops marinated in lemongrass, garlic and caramel-dark fish sauce and seared on a grill pan; a savory steamed egg-and-pork cake baked in a small dish with a glossy yolk-washed top; and shredded pork skin tossed with toasted rice powder. Pile it all over broken rice with scallion oil, pickles and a bowl of nuoc cham for pouring.

Ingredients

• 4 thin-cut bone-in pork shoulder or loin chops, about 1/2 inch thick (1 1/2 lb total)
• 2 lemongrass stalks, tough outer layers removed, tender core minced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 shallots, minced
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 3 tbsp dark brown sugar
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• 1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

• 1/2 lb ground pork
• 1 oz dried cellophane (mung bean) noodles
• 1/4 cup dried wood ear mushrooms
• 3 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk (for the top)
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• butter or oil, for the dish

• 8 oz store-bought shredded pork skin (bi heo), thawed
• 2 tbsp toasted rice powder (thinh), plus more to taste
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 clove garlic, grated

• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 3 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 Thai chile, thinly sliced (optional)
• 1 carrot, cut into thin coins or shreds

• 2 cups jasmine rice (or packaged broken rice / com tam)
• 3 tbsp neutral oil
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 Persian cucumber, sliced on the bias
• 1 tomato, sliced
• 1 cup quick pickled carrot and daikon (do chua), store-bought or homemade
• cilantro sprigs, for serving

Instructions

1. Marinate the pork first: in a bowl, whisk the minced lemongrass, garlic, shallots, 3 tbsp fish sauce, brown sugar, honey, soy sauce, 2 tbsp oil and black pepper until the sugar dissolves. Pat the chops dry, then pound them lightly with the flat of a meat mallet or the bottom of a heavy pan to an even 1/3 inch. Add to the marinade, turn to coat, cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.
2. Make the nuoc cham: stir the sugar into the warm water until fully dissolved, then add the fish sauce, lime juice, garlic, chile and carrot. Taste — it should be sharply sweet-salty-sour with a little water-thin body. Refrigerate until serving.
3. Make the scallion oil: heat 3 tbsp oil in a small skillet over medium until it shimmers, about 2 minutes. Kill the heat, add the sliced scallions and a pinch of salt, and swirl for 30 seconds so they wilt and turn bright green. Set aside.
4. Dress the bi: squeeze any excess liquid from the shredded pork skin, then toss with 2 tbsp toasted rice powder, 1 tsp fish sauce, 1/2 tsp sugar and the grated garlic. It should smell nutty and feel dry and fluffy, not wet — add another spoon of rice powder if needed. Cover and leave at room temperature.
5. Start the egg-pork cake: soak the cellophane noodles and wood ear mushrooms in separate bowls of hot tap water for 15 minutes, until the noodles are pliable and the mushrooms have swelled. Drain both well, then chop the noodles into 1-inch pieces and finely mince the mushrooms, discarding any tough cores. Heat the oven to 350°F.
6. Butter a 6- to 7-inch round baking dish or an 8x4-inch loaf pan. In a bowl, mix the ground pork, chopped noodles, minced mushrooms, scallions, 3 whole eggs, 1 tbsp fish sauce, 1/2 tsp sugar and 1/4 tsp pepper. Stir vigorously in one direction for a full minute so the mixture becomes cohesive, then scrape into the dish and smooth the top.
7. Set the dish inside a larger roasting pan and pour boiling water into the outer pan to come 1 inch up the sides. Bake at 350°F for 30 to 35 minutes, until the cake is set and springs back when pressed and an instant-read thermometer reads 160°F in the center.
8. Beat the extra egg yolk with 1 tsp water and brush it over the top of the cake. Return to the oven — bare, no water bath — and bake 5 minutes, then broil 1 to 2 minutes on high, watching constantly, until the top is glossy and lightly bronzed. Let rest at least 10 minutes before slicing.
9. Meanwhile, cook the rice: if using jasmine rice, pulse it in a dry blender or food processor in 2-second bursts, 3 or 4 times, until roughly a third of the grains are cracked — that's the broken-rice texture. Rinse until the water runs nearly clear, then cook with 2 1/4 cups water in a rice cooker or covered pot (boil, then 12 minutes on low, 10 minutes off heat). Fluff with a fork.
10. Grill the chops: heat a cast-iron grill pan over medium-high for 4 minutes until it just begins to smoke. Lift the chops from the marinade, scraping most of the aromatics off (they burn), and cook 3 to 4 minutes per side, pressing them flat with a spatula for the first minute, until deeply caramelized in spots and 145°F internal. Work in two batches so the pan stays hot. Rest 5 minutes, then slice or leave whole.
11. Build the plates: mound broken rice on four plates and drizzle each with scallion oil. Add a pork chop, two slices of egg-pork cake and a small pile of bi. Tuck cucumber, tomato and pickled carrot and daikon alongside, scatter cilantro, and give everyone a small bowl of nuoc cham to pour over the whole plate as they eat.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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