Com Mau - Quy Nhon, Vietnam

Introduction

During my last food tour in Chiang Mai, Thailand, my host Moui shared an interesting insight: Thai people don’t usually cook at home because food is available everywhere. Rather than spending time on grocery shopping, ingredient preparation, and cooking, Thai people prefer to focus on working. While Thai and Vietnamese are somewhat similar in culture, I found one key difference: Vietnamese people believe cooking is essential and love cooking food for their families and loved ones. In other words, cooking is the language of love for Vietnamese people, as they are often too shy to express it verbally.

Vietnamese family meal

Family meals are as important to Vietnamese people as rice is to Asians—they simply cannot live without them. To illustrate this importance, I can provide some references. In Vietnamese society, one of the top qualities a man looks for in a wife is her ability to cook. It's so important that many women wake up at 5:30 AM every morning to buy the freshest ingredients from the wet market for their families. There's even a saying, 'chuẩn cơm vợ nấu,' or 'không đâu cho bằng cơm nhà,' which reflects the belief that no matter where you go or what you do, nothing compares to the meals cooked by your mother or wife.

Family meal into business

It surprised me this time traveling in Vietnam that I could find it everywhere (Hanoi, Danang, Hoi An, Quy Nhon, Nha Trang, Sai Gon). Before getting into details, let’s have a look at each location serves

Hanoi

Cửa hàng ăn uống mậu dịch số 37 - Hanoi, Vietnam

Danang

BẾP BÀ BA
BẾP CỦA NGOẠI BRANCHES
CƠM NHÀ TRÂM

Quy Nhon

Quán cơm Mậu Quy Nhơn

Nha Trang

Chuồn Chuồn Kim
Ớt hiểm Vietnamese Kitchen
Tiệm ăn bao cấp Lê Thị

It's not too hard to find places in major cities of Vietnam that serve traditional family meals, typically centered around two key concepts:

Cơm nhà: This term refers to "home-cooked meals" in Vietnamese. These are meals prepared and eaten at home, typically made by family members, often by the mother or wife, and enjoyed together. Cơm nhà is associated with warmth, care, and the traditional family setting, where meals are more than just food—they serve as a way to connect with loved ones.
Cơm bao cấp: This reflects the food culture during Vietnam’s bao cấp period, an era of a centrally planned and subsidized economy (roughly from 1976 to 1986). During this time, food and necessities were rationed as the country recovered from war. Meals were simple and frugal, made from limited ingredients, reflecting the scarcity of the time.

Despite the differences between these concepts, meals across Vietnam, from the North to the South, are often served with five main components:

Steamed rice
Món mặn (savory dishes, usually featuring meat or fish)
Vegetables
Canh (broth-based soups)
Dipping sauces such as fish sauce, soy sauce, fermented fish/bean sauce, or shrimp paste

While rice and dipping sauce are staples, the other three components offer a variety of options. Based on our experiences and local recommendations, here are the top three picks for each category:

Món mặn (Savory Dishes)

Caramelized pork belly (thịt kho)
Stuffed squid (mực nhồi thịt)
Braised fish in a clay pot (cá kho tộ)

Vegetables

Fried morning glory with garlic
Fried tofu with tomato sauce (đậu sốt cà chua)
Vietnamese salad (nộm)

Broth Soups

Vietnamese sour soup with minced meat (canh chua)
Winter melon soup
Choy sum soup with minced meat or shrimp

With these choices, you can tailor your meal to suit your appetite while still experiencing a diverse and delicious range of flavors.

Why you should try Vietnamese family meal

To understand about Vietnamese family-oriented culture

To vary your local experience with an uncountable mixture at a reasonable price

To be reminded about home.

Highlights the top I like the most