Cơm Tay Cầm (Vietnamese Hand-Held Rice)
Seasoned rice molded into a hand-held ball and topped with shrimp, pork, and a savory-sweet glaze. Served warm with a crispy exterior and soft, fragrant center.
- Total time
- 25 min
- Servings
- 2
- Calories
- 485
- Protein
- 24g
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked white rice (day-old or cooled)
- ½ lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
- ¼ lb ground pork
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1.5 tablespoons sugar
- 3 cloves garlic, minced until pieces are smaller than a grain of rice
Instructions
- 1
Mince the garlic until the pieces are smaller than a grain of rice — about the size of pencil-tip dots.
- 2
In a small bowl, whisk together the fish sauce and sugar until the sugar dissolves, about 15 seconds.
- 3
Place a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat and wait 90 seconds until it is hot and a drop of water sizzles and evaporates immediately.
- 4
Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the hot skillet, then add the ground pork and stir, breaking it into small crumbles, until no pink remains and it turns golden-brown, about 5 minutes.
- 5
Add the minced garlic to the cooked pork and stir for 20 seconds until the smell becomes strong and fragrant.
- 6
Add the shrimp to the skillet and stir once every 10 seconds until they turn from gray to bright pink and are no longer translucent, about 2–3 minutes.
- 7
Pour the fish sauce and sugar mixture into the skillet and stir for 10 seconds until the glaze coats the meat and shrimp.
- 8
Remove the skillet from heat and let the pork-shrimp mixture cool for 1 minute.
- 9
Divide the cooled rice into 2 equal portions, about 1 cup each, and place each portion in the palm of one hand.
- 10
Cup your hand and squeeze gently to form the rice into a compact ball about the size of a tennis ball; the rice should hold together but still feel soft.
- 11
Place each rice ball on a serving plate or napkin and spoon half of the pork-shrimp mixture on top of each ball, letting some drip down the sides.
Tools you’ll need
- 10-inch skillet
- small bowl
- whisk
- wooden spoon or rubber spatula
Cook smarter
Get matched recipes for what’s in your fridge
CookSnap is a free iOS app that finds real recipes from the ingredients you already have. No more grocery-list aspirations.
