Bun cha

Bún Chả
Bún Chả dish served in Hanoi.
TypeNoodle soup
Place of originVietnam
Region or stateHanoi
Serving temperatureHot
Main ingredientsRice vermicelli, grilled pork, fresh herbs, nước chấm

Bún chả (Vietnamese: [ɓǔn ca᷉ː]) is a Vietnamese dish of grilled pork and noodles, which is thought to have originated from Hanoi, Vietnam.[1] Bún chả is served with grilled fatty pork (chả) over a plate of white rice noodles (bún) and herbs with a side dish of dipping sauce. The dish was described in 1959 by Vietnamese food writer Vu Bang (1913–1984), who described Hanoi as a town "transfixed by bún chả." Hanoi's first bún chả restaurant was on Gia Ngư, Hoàn Kiếm District, in Hanoi's Old Quarter.[2][3][4]

Bún chả originated from and remains very popular in Hanoi and throughout Vietnam. Although it is a common misconception among non-Vietnamese diners that bún chả is related to the Southern Vietnam dish of vermicelli and grilled skewered pork called bún thịt nướng, the two dishes are completely distinct in both culinary history and cultural perception.

Bún Chả Hương Liên restaurant in Hanoi became famous after United States President Barack Obama dined there with Chef Anthony Bourdain while he was on his trip to Vietnam in May 2016.[5]

Ingredients

Meat being grilled for bun cha

Bún chả is made up of many ingredients, which include:[6]

  1. Meat: minced pork shoulder to make meatballs, pork belly.
  2. Rice vermicelli
  3. Dipping sauce: diluted fish sauce with sugar, lemon juice, vinegar, stock, crushed garlic, chilli, etc.
  4. Pickled vegetables: green papaya (or carrots, onion, kohlrabi).
  5. Fresh herbs: lettuce, Láng basil, rice paddy herb (ngổ), beansprout, Vietnamese balm (kinh giới).
  6. Side dishes: crushed garlic, crushed chilli, vinegar, ground pepper, sliced limes.

Bún chả in Hanoi

Bún chả and crab spring rolls in Hàng Mành street, Hanoi

In Hanoi, bún chả is traditionally a lunch item. This is a unique feature of Hanoi's culinary culture, as the dish is often served at all hours in other parts of Vietnam.[7] Even in Hanoi, now there are restaurants that serve the dish in the evening.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ Daniel Hoyer (194), Culinary Vietnam, Gibbs Smith, p. 102, ISBN 978-1-4236-0320-7, retrieved 21 January 2011
  2. ^ Thanh Nien A bún chả that could wake the dead – Resurrecting a dead writer's dream meal in Ho Chi Minh City Archived 24 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine 2 March 2012
  3. ^ Ann Lee The Little Saigon Cookbook "Bún chả"
  4. ^ Andrea Nguyen Into the Vietnamese Kitchen "Bún chả"
  5. ^ VnExpress (10 May 2021). "Bữa tối bất ngờ của Tổng thống Obama trong quán bún chả". vnexpress.net (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  6. ^ "How to make Hanoi bun cha" (in Vietnamese). Nghệ thuật ẩm thực. Archived from the original on 22 June 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  7. ^ Chuyện Hà Nội: Bún chả Hà thành Thể thao văn hóa, 15 December 2014.
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