Name: Com Do (Vietnamese Red Rice)
Total time: 45 min
Cuisine: VietnameseAsianAsia
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups jasmine rice; 2 tablespoons unsalted butter; 4 garlic cloves , minced; 3 tablespoons tomato paste; 1 3/4 cups water; 2 teaspoons soy sauce; 1/2 teaspoon table salt

Why This Recipe Works

Com do, or red rice, is an ultrasavory Vietnamese side dish. It's normally made as a fried rice by stir-frying precooked rice, but we made ours from scratch in one pot. To re-create the slightly drier texture of a fried rice, we held back a bit on the water. And to ensure the dish had the depth of flavor that it should, we used lots of tomato paste and soy sauce for umami and butter for richness and complexity.

Before You Begin

We based this recipe on a version made by Vietnamese cooking expert Andrea Nguyen. If jasmine rice is unavailable, substitute another long-grain white rice. Maggi Seasoning can be used in place of the soy sauce, if desired. This ultrasavory side dish is often paired with B ò Lúc Lắc (Shaking Beef).

Instructions

Place rice in fine-mesh strainer and rinse under cold running water until water runs clear. Drain well. Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add rice and cook, stirring constantly, until grains become chalky and opaque, 1 to 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, about 30 seconds. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until tomato paste is evenly distributed, about 1 minute.

Add water, soy sauce, and salt and bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Let stand off heat, covered, for 10 minutes. Fluff rice with fork and stir to combine. Serve.