How is the broken rice restaurant visited by a world-famous chef 11 years ago now?

A time of carrying broken rice

Broken rice restaurant No. 1 of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Lan (70 years old) has existed for more than 60 years, located in alley 150/1 Nguyen Trai, Ben Thanh ward, district 1, HCMC.

Ms. Lan is the second generation after her mother to keep the broken rice selling business. Ms. Lan's mother was born in Long Xuyen ( An Giang ), then got married and moved to Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) to make a living.

“Long Xuyen has a specialty called broken rice. My mother is a native of Long Xuyen so she cooks broken rice and pork skin rolls very well. In 1963, life was difficult, my father was not home, so my mother had to try selling broken rice.

Unexpectedly, her broken rice with pork skin dish is loved by many people, including celebrities," said Ms. Lan.

In those years, the alley in front of Mrs. Lan’s house was still a dirt road. The surrounding houses were sparse, with tiled roofs and shabby.

Mrs. Lan’s mother placed a pair of broken rice poles in front of the house, and arranged a few old small chairs. At that time, broken rice was only served with pork skin and sausage, not with the full range of dishes like today. However, her mother’s broken rice stall soon became famous, and many diners came to visit.

Mrs. Lan remembers the early days when her mother used to carry two shoulder poles to sell broken rice in front of the house. Photo: Ngoc Lai

“At that time, Saigon did not have many places selling broken rice. My mother’s rice stall was located in the center, near printing houses, editorial offices, theaters, and coffee shops. Therefore, artists, journalists, etc. conveniently stopped by to eat.

“They got used to the food and found it delicious, so they came to support me regularly. Artists Thanh Duoc, Phuong Lien, the parents of Cai Luong artist Thanh Hang and other famous artists at that time also ate my mother’s broken rice,” Ms. Lan proudly said.

At that time, Mrs. Lan was about 9 years old, running around helping her mother serve food and wash dishes. In addition to doing chores, she also took the time to memorize her mother's secret recipe for cooking broken rice.

Her mother taught her how to cook the fish sauce to make it flavorful and eye-catching. The way to make pickles and scallion oil is also very unique.

By the 1980s, Ms. Lan started to practice selling additional side dishes such as: meatballs, braised eggs, grilled ribs, etc. Long Xuyen broken rice gradually "lost its roots" and became Saigon broken rice.

Although the side dishes later were prepared deliciously, they still could not surpass the restaurant's traditional pork skin and sausage. Pork skin and sausage are two side dishes that Mrs. Lan had to make herself to feel secure.

Every day, Mrs. Lan works alone to cut several kilos of pork skin and lean meat into thin strips to make pork skin. She also shreds radishes to make pickles, makes sausages, and minces meat to make meatballs...

In particular, Mrs. Lan cooks rice directly on the stove, without using a steamer. This method wastes a lot of rice and causes burnt rice. However, the rice grains are not as watery and bland as steamed rice.

With a huge amount of work, Mrs. Lan had to wake up at 3am and work hard until late afternoon.

Although many of her customers are famous people, she still decorates the space inside the restaurant in a simple, ordinary way. When the reporter visited, the restaurant had a number of artists coming for lunch, including artist Quoc Thao, a regular customer.

At first, the broken rice restaurant only had 2 dishes: pork skin and sausage, later added braised eggs, fried chicken...
Photo: Ngoc Lai

Going abroad to visit children and grandchildren

Mr. Martin Yan came to dine at the restaurant. Photo: Martin Yan - Taste of Vietnam

In 2013, Ms. Lan's family's No. 1 broken rice restaurant was chosen by Mr. Martin Yan - famous chef with the cooking show Yan Can Cook, to be introduced in the show Martin Yan - Taste of Vietnam ( Discover Vietnam with Martin Yan).

Ms. Lan said that the day before Mr. Yan visited the shop, a female employee from the TV station came to ask for permission. Although she did not know who Mr. Yan was, she still happily welcomed him to the shop to film.

Mrs. Lan is meticulous in every step of food preparation. Photo: Ngoc Lai

The next morning, Mr. Yan and a group of about 40 people visited the restaurant. The group spoke to each other in English and Cantonese.

Knowing a little Cantonese, Ms. Lan excitedly chatted with Mr. Yan. At this point, she guessed, “Mr. Yan must be a famous person.”

Mrs. Lan really liked Mr. Yan's humorous and cheerful personality. She herself was a fun-loving person, so this meeting was a very interesting memory for her.

Afterwards, Ms. Lan's No. 1 broken rice restaurant was introduced in episode 3 of the Martin Yan - Taste of Vietnam program. Chef Martin Yan praised the wonderful broken rice dish and happily enjoyed it with the diners in Ho Chi Minh City.

Mrs. Lan is very proud every time she looks back at the pictures of Mr. Yan's visit. She also prints related articles and hangs them on the wall of the shop.

She respected Mr. Yan as well as all the other diners at the restaurant. Therefore, the restaurant has special customers who have been with the restaurant for decades, from father to son. Many people who have settled abroad, every time they come back to their hometown, they stop by the restaurant to eat broken rice.

Mr. Hai Nguyen has lived in the US for more than 10 years. Every time he returns home, he always stops by Com Tam No. 1 restaurant for a meal.

"I've been away for quite a while, but every time I visit the restaurant, Ms. Lan still remembers what I eat. The meatloaf here is homemade by the owner. I find it beautiful and has a unique taste," Mr. Hai shared.

Thanks to the restaurant, Mrs. Lan was able to do business and raise her children to be successful. When her husband and children went to Australia to study and settle down, she still chose to stay in her hometown.

Mrs. Lan cooks from 3pm until late afternoon. Photo: Ngoc Lai

Every year, she spends about 3-6 months in Australia visiting her children and grandchildren. Therefore, she usually sells from October of the previous year to May of the following year.

Around April 2024, her daughter asked Mrs. Lan to come over early. At the end of May 2024, she put up a sign saying she was temporarily closed until September 2024.

“I put up a sign saying I would be taking a 3-month leave, but my children and grandchildren always wanted me to stay longer. I missed home and the broken rice shop and insisted on going home. But if my children didn’t buy me a plane ticket, how could I go home?”, Ms. Lan said.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Ms. Lan was stuck in Australia for 3 years. She had to find all kinds of jobs to help her miss her shop less. She cleaned the house, did laundry, cooked, baked…

This year, Ms. Lan hung a notice board announcing that she would be off from May 26. Photo: Ngoc Lai

"Every year, I stop selling for 3-6 months but customers still don't forget. The shop has a number of regular customers who are addicted to broken rice so there's no fear of it being unsaleable," Ms. Lan confided.

Ms. Dang Kim Loan (61 years old, District 1) said that she had eaten at Ms. Lan's restaurant for many years and found the food delicious. After the restaurant closed for several months, she ate at other restaurants and did not find the food delicious.

So, Mrs. Loan told the restaurant owner: "Please go home early, we are waiting to eat the food you cook. If you stay too long, I will be angry."

Listening to the customer's instructions, Mrs. Lan smiled and nodded continuously. For her, it was luck and happiness after more than 60 years of trading.

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Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/quan-com-tam-duoc-dau-bep-noi-tieng-the-gioi-ghe-tham-11-nam-truoc-gio-ra-sao-2301781.html