Simply soak in boiling water for a couple of minutes, then drain.įresh vegetables and herbs are an essential part of Vietnamese food, and you’ll get large bowls served alongside almost every meal. The noodles are rice vermicelli noodles, found “everywhere” nowadays in Australia.

To complete the bowl, these Vietnamese Meatballs are served traditional Bun Cha style with noodles, fresh vegetables and herbs. It’s just a savoury seasoning that has more depth of flavour than soy sauce. This recipe is in no way “fishy” tasting like some Vietnamese foods. But fish sauce is as Vietnamese as Banh Mi, so I really do urge you to use it if you can. * I know there are people who aren’t a fan of fish sauce. In a nod to the authentic way Bun Cha is served, the idea with this recipe is to use lots of sauce. It’s diluted with water to make it more like a soup broth. The sauce for Bun Cha is made with fish sauce*, rice wine vinegar, lime juice, sugar, garlic and chilli (hot or not hot, or even skip it). The Vietnamese Sauce is a version of Nuoc Cham, a version of which is served with “everything” in Vietnamese cuisine (and that’s no exaggeration). Fish sauce is the key seasoning here, and the touch of sugar that makes the surface beautifully caramelised. The Vietnamese (squished) meatballs are just made with pork, garlic, sugar, fish sauce*, salt, pepper and scallions/green onions. You’ll love how you won’t need to take a trip to an Asian store for this! You’ll also love how versatile this recipe actually is. To make this a simple dinner recipe, I’ve skipped the pork belly and made noodle bowls with the sauce for spooning over, rather than serving it “soup” style. This Noodle Bowl way of serving Vietnamese food is increasingly popular here in Sydney, especially with the work lunch crowd. On point with flavour, but presented differently. This Bun Cha recipe I’m sharing today is a simple home version that’s a style more familiar to those of us outside of Vietnam. THAT my friends, is a big, fat mouthful that epitomises all that is great about Vietnamese food. That perfect balance of fresh, savoury, sweet, herb, citrus, tender noodles, and that juicy caramelised pork…. So you dunk, slurp noodles, bite into juicy pork, try to cram in a few sprigs of herbs – and that moment when you succeed, when you get a mouthful with a bit of everything… How to eat Bun Cha – The idea is to use the broth for dunking the noodles, vegetables and herbs. Seasoned pork patties (I call them squished meatballs) and caramelised pork belly slices are served in a broth alongside rice noodles, fresh vegetables and herbs. (Flimsy plastic stools are the norm everywhere, and we were seriously concerned every time we planted our butts down on them!) What is Bun Cha?īun Cha is a traditional Vietnamese pork dish that’s a speciality of Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam. The Bun Cha was as great as we expected, and I’m happy to report the flimsy stools you spy held up for the whole meal. These are photos of a Bun Cha speciality place in Hanoi that we visited. It was certainly one of the first foods I hunted down when I visited Vietnam. And for visitors of Vietnam, Bun Cha should be right up there, alongside Pho, fresh rice paper rolls, and Banh Mi, to name a few favourites.

Bun Cha – traditional Vietnamese street food!Īny self respecting foodie visiting a new country will be armed with a list of “ Must Try Foods!!“. Serve it over vermicelli noodles with Vietnamese Nuoc Cham Sauce and your fresh vegetables of choice. No need to hunt down obscure ingredients at an Asian store! Traditional Vietnamese food, made at home! This is an easy Vietnamese recipe that anyone can make that’s full of flavour. Introducing Bun Cha, the famous caramelised pork meatballs from the stress of Hanoi.

Vietnamese bun cha ha noi