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Why The American President likes Bun Cha?
You will hear a lot about Spring rolls, Pho and many other unique Vietnamese meals. But why among all the great dishes, President Obama choose Bun cha Hanoi at the first time come in Vietnam.
Let discover the delicious dish.
So, what is Bun cha?
It is mostly a noodle soup with pork. You’ll be served by a plate of rice noodles, fresh herbs, and a bowl of cold broth with grilled pork. The rice noodles and fresh herbs are pretty familiar in Vietnamese restaurant. The broth and the pork are the ones make this dish special.
Bun cha Hanoi; rice noodles, herbs and broth
The broth
After experiment many different restaurants, interview and research, I discovered the broth is made of vinegar, sugar and fish sauce. It’s sweet and sour, and also it has the exclusive taste of fish sauce. Without the fish sauce, Vietnamese food would be uncompleted. Anyway, although we know what’s in it, controlling the portion of all the ingredients would be the tricky part. You will feel that the broth tastes similar as Galbi; Korean BBQ pork. Locals usually use it as room temperature. Finely chopped radish and carrot are also commonly come together.
The pork
The pork is commonly served in the broth. Depending on where you eat, there’ll serve grilled pork belly and grounded-grilled pork. In Bun cha restaurant which you can find everywhere in Hanoi, has a special fireplace to cook the pork.
The how to
Now you have it: rice noodles, herbs and broth. To enjoy, you will dip everything together in the broth then use chop stick put them in your mouth! There’s no complicated how-to with Bun cha. You’ll soon learn what to do. I really enjoyed the harmony of fresh mint which is usually used to cover a sweet piece of pork. Fresh garlic, chili pepper and lime are regularly on the table as basic indispensable ingredients. Use it as you wish.
Cooking Bun cha Hanoi; pork on grill
The uniqueness
It is just so tasty, but there are few more reasons why you should try it in Hanoi.
People believe that only in Hanoi they can taste the original Bun cha originated. For some reason, it is so different in other part of the country. I don’t know why though. The ingredients are pretty popular, and the way they cook is also not so difficult but I can’t find it after Hanoi. Only one time at a resort on the beach in Phu Quoc Island we have to pay it for 5 times of a price. It was worth it after a month of withdrawal. So you must eat it as many times as you can when you are in Hanoi. You’ll be missing it.
If you go: the prices are varied according to the quality and quantity of the pork. I have it usually between 25,000 VND – 45,000 VND (1.50 USD – 2.5 USD). And I usually eat it only in the street stalls or the local restaurants.
