Bun Cha? Boo-Yah!

First thing's first: What is bun cha? According to Wikipedia, it is "a Vietnamese dish of grilled pork and noodle... served with grilled fatty pork (cha) over a plate of white rice noodle (bún) and herbs with a side dish of dipping sauce."

Next: How is it that bun cha came into my life? Well, this past October my roommate Ben, bored with unemployment and itching to travel, decided to visit to Vietnam. He was abroad for almost two months.  Ben lived in Hanoi for about a month, volunteering at the local offices of an international organization. As a cultural adventurist and die-hard foodie (something we share), he made local ingredients, traditions, dishes and preparations part of his life in Hanoi.

When he came back in November, one of the first things we talked about was the food.  Ben had discovered many novel and delicious fruits.  He told me how he saw barbecued dog for sale on the street.  And gave a comprehensive breakdown of the bar culture in Hanoi.  Along with the souvenirs, assorted handicrafts, specialty coffee, and handmade tapestries, Ben brought back some killer recipes.

The most recently re-explored of these was bun cha!

Ben described it as a noodle dish, served with a variety of herbs, grilled pork belly, little pork meatballs, pickled vegetables and a flavorful sauce/broth.  We built the dish piece by piece.  First were the noodles.  We used the traditional rice noodles, which are very easy to prepare.  Ben prepared the pork belly by searing and then baking it.  After, he sliced it thinly into pieces.  Ben also took charge of the meatballs.  I helped him shape the seasoned, ground pork into fat little discs, then transferred them to the fry pan, where they sizzled away for about 5 minutes per side.  By this point, our apartment was swimming in the aromas of pork fat. And the fun had just begun!

As Ben fried up the meatballs, I prepared the pickles (see photo on the left).  I chose radishes, both for their freshness and geographic ubiquity.  I sliced them as thinly as possible without the help of a mandolin.  Into the bowl went my sliced radishes, white vinegar, sugar, salt, and water.  I actually used (loosely) Martha Stewart’s recipe for quick pickled radishes—clearly not for the authenticity, but having not planned ahead, my radishes had hours, not days to pickle.  Thirty minutes later, they were ready to go! 

The sauce was basically just a watered down fish sauce.  Rather than serving it on the side, we chose to save the dishes and spoon the sauce right over the bun cha.  To build the dish, the noodles went on the bottom.  On top we piled pork belly, meatballs, pickled radish, and lots of herbs.  The herbs were a combination of known and novel: mint, culantro, Thai basil, perilla (pictured on the right).  They worked wonderfully together.  The final touches were a couple spoonfuls of fish sauce broth and (for the spice lovers) a squirt of Sriracha. 

While everything tasted great separately, the combination was even better than I had expected.  A handful of my friends joined us for dinner, and I think we all went back for seconds (and some people went for thirds).  Food itself can never replace travel and cultural immersion.  However, I felt that the ingredients in my bowl did have a certain authentic quality for which I couldn’t help but be grateful.