Following her mother, Lan continued to run the broken rice eatery. Lan’s mother was born in Long Xuyen in An Giang, but moved to HCM City to earn a living after getting married.

“Broken rice is a specialty of Long Xuyen. My mother is an original Long Xuyen woman, so she cooks broken rice with meat pies and pork skin very well,” Lan said. “In 1963, as life became difficult, and my father was away from home, my mother tried to sell broken rice."

The com tam sold by Lan’s mother was favored by many diners, including celebrities. In those years, the small alley in front of Lan’s house was a dirt road.

Lan’s mother put com tam into a bamboo frame, and arranged some old chairs around to receive diners. At that time, com tam was only served with meat pies and pork skins, and there were not many choices as there are now. However, the food prepared by Lan’s mother attracted many people. 

“There were not many com tam eateries at that time in Saigon. As my mother sold com tam in the center area, near printing houses, newspaper offices and cafes, it usually received artists and journalists."

After enjoying the com tam prepared by Lan’s mother, the diners came back often. Many famous artists, including Thanh Duoc, Phuong Lien, the parents of cai luong (reformed theatre) artist Thanh Hang, and other artists came to enjoy com tam.

At that time, Lan was just nine years old and she could only help her mother by bringing com tam to clients and washing dishes. She spent time running errands and learning the recipes of her mother. She was taught how to prepare fish sauce, sour pickles and other secrets.

In 1980s, Lan began selling more food, such as xiu mai (Vietnamese meatballs), trung kho (stir-fried eggs) and suon nuong (barbecue ribs). So, LongXuyen broken rice was modified into Saigon broken rice.

Though the new dishes were praised by diners, pork skin and meat pies still remain the most wanted. They are served with com tam, and are so important that Lan only feels secure about the quality if she makes the dishes herself.

Every day, Lan is busy cutting several kilos of pork skin and lean meat into thin strips to make pork skin. She also shreds radish to make pickles, makes sausages, and minces meat to make meatballs.

Lam cooks rice directly on the stove, and doesn’t use a steamer. The way of cooking creates a rice crust at the bottom of the pot and more delicious rice grains. 

With the heavy workload, Lan has to get up at 3am every day. Though the eatery receives a lot of celebrities, the interior decor is simple.

In 2013, the eatery received Martin Yan, a world leading chef with a well known program called Yan Can Cook. Later, Lan and her eatery appeared on the Martin Yan – Taste of Vietnam TV show.

Lan said when a woman came to see her and asked for permission to a make a film, she did not know about Martin Yan, but still welcomed him and his team. The members of the team spoke English and Cantonese, so she could talk with Yan, and guessed that Yan might be a famous person.

Lan said she admired Yan’s sense of humor, and the meeting remains an interesting memory for her. Lan said she takes pride every time reviewing the images of Yan at her eatery. She printed the articles about her eatery and stuck the papers on the wall.

Lan said she respects Yan and all her diners. She has many loyal clients, and many of them now live overseas, but visit the eatery every time they return to Vietnam.

Ngoc Lai