Com Tam
Grilled lemongrass pork over rice with pickles and scallion oil.
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Join HomecookedIngredients
- 400 g Pork loin
- 400 g Jasmine rice
- 2 Lemongrass
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 3 tbsp Fish sauce
- 3 Scallions
- ¼ White radish
- 1 Carrot
- 2 tbsp Rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp Sugar
- 3 tbsp Neutral oil
Method
- Mince the lemongrass and garlic and marinate the pork with the fish sauce and sugar.
- Pickle the shredded daikon and carrot in the rice vinegar.
- Slice the scallions, then make a scallion oil by pouring the hot neutral oil over them.
- Steam the jasmine rice until fluffy.
- Grill the pork until charred and just cooked through.
- Plate the rice with the sliced pork, pickles, and scallion oil.
Nutrition per serving
Estimated from ingredients; varies with exact portions and brands.
About Com Tam
Com tam is a Vietnamese staple built on the idea of balance: grilled lemongrass pork—charred, smoky, fragrant—over jasmine rice with a small constellation of pickled vegetables, raw scallion oil, and whatever else pulls the flavors into focus. The pork is marinated simply in lemongrass, garlic, fish sauce, and a touch of sugar, then cooked hot enough that it catches char while the interior stays tender and juicy. The pickle—daikon and carrot in rice vinegar—provides the acid and crunch that the plate needs; the scallion oil adds fat and an allium bite.
What makes com tam sing is the sequence of flavors on a single spoon: the fragrance of lemongrass and char from the pork, the clean heat of fish sauce, the sweet-sour pop of pickle, the slight funk of the oil, and the blank canvas of rice to tie it all together. It's dinner that tastes bright and assertive without being complicated, the kind of meal that makes you feel like you're eating something more interesting than the sum of its simple parts. This is the food of Vietnam's streets and home tables alike: inexpensive, quick to cook, and somehow always tasting like a complete thought rather than assembled components.
Com Tam: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Com Tam?
One serving of Com Tam has about 716 calories, with 32g of protein, 99g of carbs, 22g of fat and 3g of fiber. These are estimates based on the ingredient amounts in this recipe and will vary with your exact portions and brands.
Is Com Tam high in protein?
Yes — each serving delivers about 32g of protein. That's 18% of its 716 calories coming from protein.
Is Com Tam gluten-free?
Based on its ingredients, Com Tam has no gluten-containing components, so it's naturally gluten-free — as always, check that any packaged ingredients you use are certified gluten-free to be safe.
How long does Com Tam take to make?
About 40 minutes start to finish, but only around 29 of those are hands-on — the rest is largely unattended cooking time you can step away from. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.
How many servings does Com Tam make?
This recipe makes 4 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.