In Vietnam, bún chả has long been a specialty of Hanoi. People love it and enjoy it everyday. However, it can’t be denied that after Obama bún chả phenomenon, it has been widely popular than ever, not only to worldwide food lovers but also Vietnamese ones who feel so proud of local specialty. 

 

Bún chả is a Vietnamese dish of grilled pork and noodle, which is thought to have originated from Hanoi, Vietnam. Bún chả is served with grilled fatty pork (chả) over a plate of white rice vermicelli (bún) and herbs with a side dish of dipping sauce.

On every street of the capital, between 9a.m and 10 a.m, smoke from meat grilling flies to every corner, carrying along sweet-smelling of grilled chopped meat, which can made anyone passing by feel appetizing.

Main ingredients to make Bún chả include rice vermicelli, belly pork, shallots, spicy, carrot, green papaya, raw vegetables and well-mixed fish sauce.

 While vermicelli is easy to find based on some quality of white, soft, slender stick rather than the big ones in Hue rice noodles, and vegetables can be chopped down for fresh serve after washing and draining, it requires more techniques with grilled meat and fish sauce.

Not too sweet like grilled pork ribs of Saigonese, the sophistication of Hanoi’s grilled pork comes from a little shallots to wake up senses, a little cockcroach color to be more impressive, a little fish sauce for flavorful the dish and a little sugar to hightlight the inner sweetness of the meat itself.

Indeed, making dipping sauce is an art. Any a bowl of fish sauce combine vinegar, sugar, hot chilly, garlic and pepper altogether but with different amount, depending on the taster, so that it will then contain all the essential tastes, sour, hot, salty and sweet. The fish sauce itself must be the best one and such ingredients like garlic, lime juice, chili and pepper must be well selected and combined. Soft, square green papaya and carrot slices are also added to decorate and elevate the flavor. 

Bun cha attracts its tasters by the simplest details. It also serve as a demonstration for those small and rustic but never mediocre ones. And by unique sophistication and skillfulness, Hanoians, have sublimated the streetside dish into a masterpiece of humankind.

According to littlemousycancook.com