Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 24 to 28.

RICE

Rice, or com, is the very bedrock of Vietnamese cuisine. In imperial Hue, rice with salt was served to distinguished guests by royal mandarins; these days locals eats at least one rice-based meal every day and offer a bowl of rice to departed ancestors.

If a Vietnamese says, ‘An com di’ (literally ‘let’s eat rice’), it’s an invitation to lunch or dinner. You can also get your fill of the stuff, accompanied by a variety of stir-fried meat, fish and vegetable dishes, at specialized, informal eateries called quan com binh dan.

Cooked to a soupy state with chicken, eel or duck, rice become chao (rice porridge); fried in a hot wok with egg, vegetables and other ingredients, it’s com rang; and ‘broken’ into short grains, steamed, topped with barbecued pork, an egg, and sliced cucumber, and accompanied by nuoc cham (a dipping sauce of sweetened fish sauce), it’s com tam. Tiny clams called hen are sautéed with peppery Vietnamese coriander and ladled over rice to make com hen.

Sticky or glutinous rice (white, red and black) is mixed with pulses or rehydrated dried corn, peanuts and sesame seeds for a filling breakfast treat called xoi (ngo in central Vietnam). It can also be mixed with sugar and coconut milk then moulded into sweet treats, or layered with pork and steamed in bamboo or banana leaves for banh chung, a Tet speciality. Soaked and ground into flour, rice becomes the base for everything from noodles and sweets to crackers and the dry, round, translucent ‘papers’ that Vietnamese moisten before using to wrap salad rolls and other specialities.