This is my favorite dish growing up in Vietnam, and we had it often at home as our mother was from Hanoi.
Bun means rice vermicelli and Cha means meatballs. So for this dish, you would need minced pork as well as sliced pork. This dish is served with rice vermicelli and fresh lettuce and herbs as well as nuoc cham, or a prepared fish sauce with garlic, chili, lime and sugar.
Bun Cha is commonly found in North Vietnam, and the best and most authentic Bun Cha is served in street food stalls in Hanoi, like the place that Chef Anthony Bourdain has taken former President Obama to, in an episode of his Parts Unknown series. Check my Bun Cha meal in Hanoi post.
Since we moved overseas, it’s probably the dish that I have ordered the most frequently in Vietnamese restaurants, but it’s rare to find great Bun Cha. The best that I have enjoyed so far is in a Vietnamese restaurant in Paris, in the 13th arrondissement… but really, the best Bun Cha is home made.
Most Vietnamese family have their own Bun Cha recipe. This is our authentic recipe, but adapted to modern times.
I would recommend 2 things: First, get meat that has around 15 to 20% fat, as lean meat would be too dry, and second, plan ahead and marinate the meat patties and sliced pork the day before so the flavors can really develop.
The traditional way is to prepare Nuoc Hang, a caramelized sauce, which I sometimes do according to the below recipe, but I find that using a short cut with palm sugar in the marinade, and honey drizzled over the meat before grilling, the Bun Cha tastes just as good, as the smokey sweet taste and caramel color can still be achieved through the Maillard reaction.
Regarding the cooking method, the traditional bun cha at home in Vietnam is cooked on a griddle over charcoal. In my kitchen, I use my Staub grill pan for the meat patties, and a regular frying pan for the pork meat (mainly so I can cook both at the same time so they’ll both be served hot). The Staub cast iron grill pan is a bit pricey but is really worth it as it could last a lifetime being well made in France and is incredibly versatile. You can get it here at Amazon.
The genius trick that I have learned from my sister in Paris is to put parchment paper on top of the frying pan to avoid sticking. You can still achieve the slightly charred effect and cleaning up is a breeze! This is one of the best trick that could also be used to pan fry other food such as fish fillets etc. When you try this trick, I hope you will remember my blog, as I mentally thank my sister every time that I use it!
Grilled Pork – Bun Cha Hanoi
Equipment
- Cast Iron Grill pan or a BBQ grill basket
- Parchment paper (optional)
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground pork with 15 to 20% fat
- 1 lb pork (like shoulder, butt, or neck), with 15 to 20% fat, thinky sliced
- 1/4 cup minced shallots plus 1 tbspn minced shallots
- 2 tbsp minced garlic
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 3 tbsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 tbsp honey
Caramel sauce (Nuoc Hang)
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 6 tbsp water divided
Or Easy Caramel sauce
- 2.5 oz or 75 g of palm sugar
- 5 tbsp water
To serve / Garnish – Dipping Sauce (Nuoc Cham)
- 1 tbsp lime sauce
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 2/3 cup water
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- Julienne carrots or thinly sliced green papaya
- 4 portion of cooked rice vermicelli
- Fresh lettuce, sliced cucumber and fresh herbs (like mint, basil, coriander, shiso)
Instructions
- First, prepare the Caramel Sauce – The traditional way: in a small saucepan, add the 1/3 cup sugar and 4 tablespoon water. Bring to boil then reduce the heat to medium until simmering. Do not use any utensil to stir, just swirl the pan to blend the water and sugar. The mixture will turn from clear to golden to dark, but you need to watch closely as it may burn easily. You may have to lower the heat if needed. As soon as it gets dark brown, turn off the heat, remove from stove and carefully add another 2 tablespoon of hot water. Swirl to combine and set aside.
- If you have no patience to stand and watch for the water and sugar to caramelize as above instruction, the short cut is to combine the palm sugar and water in a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 2 minutes, stir to blend and set aside.
- Now prepare the marinade. Combine the 1/4 cup minced shallots, minced garlic, fish sauce, black pepper, baking powder and the caramel sauce in a bowl.Use half to marinate the minced meat in a bowl and half to marinate the thinly sliced pork in another bowl. Mix well. With your slightly wet hands form flat meat patties (about 1-1/2 to 2" diameter). Cover both meat patties and sliced pork and refrigerate overnight or at least 1 hour.
- The day of the meal, cook the rice vermicelli according to package instructions.
- Wash and dry the lettuce and herbs
- Prepare the dipping sauce (nuoc cham) by mixing the lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, water and julienne carrot or sliced green papaya.
- In a small saucepan, heat the 3 tbspn oil till very hot, add the reserved 1 tbspn minced shallots and fry till just golden. Turn off heat, the shallots will continue to cook till a darker gold. To use as shallot oil. You can save the fried shallots and remaining oil for another use.
- Take the meat balls and sliced pork out of the refrigerator an hour before cooking. Add the honey and 1 tablespoon of the shallot oil to the sliced pork and mix well. With a brush, coat both sides of the meat patties with the shallot oil.
- Cut a parchment paper to fit a frying pan. Put the parchment paper on the frying pan, brush with shallot oil, and heat the pan till very hot. Lay the sliced pork in single layer (fry in 2 batches if necessary), and cook till sizzling on one side, and turn over to the other side. The pork should caramelize beautifully. If using a BBQ instead of frying pan, for this step, put the sliced pork in single layer in a BBQ grill basket (brush the basket with shallot oil), and grill on the BBQ, and if the pork slices are thin, it should take 5 minutes on each side. Check for doneness
- Brush the shallot oil on a Staub or cast iron grill. Heat till very hot. Add the meat patties in single layer. Grill for 4 minutes on each side, then flip over to the other side and grill for another 3 to 4 minutes. Depending on the thickness of the patties, you may have to grill for slightly longer (cut one meat patty to make sure that it's not pink inside). If using a BBQ instead of a cast iron grill, put the meat patties in single layer in a BBQ grill basked (brush the basket with shallot oil), and grill on the BBQ, it should take 4 minutes on each side. Check for doneness.
- To serve, divide the meat and meat patties into 4 bowls, add the dipping sauce. Serve with the vermicelli and fresh lettuce and herbs. In our family, we put the meat patties in a bowl and add the dipping sauce, and serve the grilled pork on a separate dish.
I hope you’ll enjoy this mouth watering dish, the most iconic in Hanoi!
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California Glamping
Hard to stop eating this stuff. Good thing it’s a healthy dish otherwise I would be in trouble. One has to try this!