Image: Kiraface, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Hanoi bún chả is served with grilled pork, rice noodles, abundant herbs and a warm diluted fish-sauce broth. At home, small pork patties work well in a grill pan or under a hot oven grill.
Ingredients
- 500 g minced pork
- 2 shallots, very finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp neutral oil
- 250 g rice vermicelli
- 1 large handful of lettuce, mint, coriander and Thai basil
- 100 g carrot and 100 g kohlrabi or green papaya, thinly sliced
- For the broth: 300 ml warm water, 60 ml fish sauce, 60 ml lime juice or rice vinegar, 50 g sugar, 1 garlic clove and chilli to taste
Method
- Mix pork with shallots, garlic, fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, pepper and oil. Chill for 20 minutes.
- For the broth, dissolve sugar in warm water, then add fish sauce and lime juice. Stir in garlic and chilli. Add carrot and kohlrabi and pickle for at least 15 minutes.
- Cook rice noodles according to the packet, rinse cold and drain. Wash the lettuce and herbs.
- Shape the pork into 12–16 flat patties. Cook in a hot grill pan for 4–5 minutes per side, or bake at 220°C for 12–15 minutes, until browned and cooked through.
- Divide some broth and pickles between four bowls and add the hot pork patties.
- Serve noodles, herbs and lettuce separately. Dip small portions into the broth as you eat, or combine them in your bowl.
Tips and variations
- Keep the patties flat so they cook quickly and evenly.
- For smoky flavour, grill outdoors or finish briefly under the oven grill.
- A vegetarian adaptation needs its own tofu or mushroom recipe and fish-free sauce; it should not be presented as classic bún chả.
