The rice, served in rolls, looked unadorned like the forest and waterfalls I had visited earlier in the day.
A dozen visitors from Ho Chi Minh City and I dropped by the Damb’ri Ecological Tourism Site in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong one Saturday.
Before the rice meal on an outdoor terrace, we were treated to performances of gong music.
There are basically two kinds of com lam.
One comes from the Central Highlands and is often eaten with meat.
The other comes from the north western mountains and is served with sesame seeds and salt.
The origin of com lam is testimony to man’s ingenuity.
During hunting seasons in mountainous regions, men would have to stay for days in the forests.
To make their expeditions as easy as possible, they developed a new way of cooking rice that didn’t require pots or pans.
They cut young bamboo tubes and put rice and spring water in them, covered them with banana leaves and buried them under their fire.
Afterwards, they peeled off the bamboo to get to the rice, which kept the shape of the bamboo tube. That is simple com lam.
There are more sophisticated versions cooked with bamboo sprouts, peanuts and other ingredients to make the rice tastier.
These days, many people in the Central Highlands still prefer cooking rice in bamboo tubes even though they have electric or gas stoves.
They also cook meat and vegetables in this natural cooker because it gives the food a pleasant bamboo taste and fragrance.
Also, this cooking method means the food will not spoil for a week or so.
I fell to the rice plate before me and finished it all in a few minutes.
I didn’t add any sauce or meat or vegetables although the waitress had served them also.
The rice tasted just right by itself.
Behind me, the fire crackled and blazed, waiting for us to finish eating and start dancing.
Reported by Phuong Anh |
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