Bun Cha
This tasty meatball dish was featured in Anthony Bourdain’s 2016 episode with president Obama in Hanoi. For very good reason—super delicious when paired with cold beer.
Ingredients for 4 to 6 generous servings
Meatballs
- 1 kilo of ground pork
- 1 stalk of lemongrass
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 small red onion
- 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons of fish sauce (nam pla)
- Ground black pepper
Dipping Sauce
- 1/2 cup of white sugar
- 1/2 cup of fish sauce
- 5 tablespoons of lime juice
- 5 tablespoons of white distilled vinegar
- 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup of water
- 1 red chili pepper, finely chopped or to taste
Other
- 1 package of rice vermicelli
- Fresh greens such as lettuce, cilantro, basil, mint, bean sprouts
Directions
- Finely chop the lemongrass, garlic, and onions.
- Mix together with the meat, sugar, fish sauce, and pepper and allow to marinate for 1/2 hour.
- Meanwhile prepare the dipping sauce and the plate with fresh greens. This sauce should be sweet, salty, tangy, and umami. Feel free to play with the proportions.
- Bring a pot of water to boil and immerse the vermicelli for about 3-4 minutes until soft. Drain and set into individual bowls. It’s normal that these noodles become sticky and clumpy. They will loosen with the sauce.
- Form little meatballs and flatten slightly. They are wonderful grilled over charcoal but a shallow fry pan is also fine.
- This is served by layering the noodles, the meatballs, the greens, and sauce.
Slurping encouraged.