Bun Cha - A True Hanoian Specialty

Bun Cha (Bún chả) is a savoury dish of vermicelli rice noodles, grilled pork skewers, a salty-sweet and tangy dipping sauce as well as a side salad of lettuce and fresh herbs. It originated in Hanoi and is still an extremely popular dish in the capital.

Panorama shot of O Bun Cha and the view on to the street.

We stumbled across Bun Cha on our very first evening in Hanoi. While wandering the streets of the Old Quarter, we came upon a quaint Restaurant overlooking a busy street corner. Like many restaurants in Hanoi, Ô Bún Chả focuses on only one dish and in this case, they do it extraordinarily well. They serve two varieties of Bun Cha, one with marinated pork strips grilled in the traditional style over a charcoal barbecue on a wooden skewer, the other with ground pork formed into a type of flat meatball, skewered and then grilled.

We ordered a combo menu, which served some of each type of meat and a side of pork spring rolls that were also a delight. As our first meal in Vietnam, I think we hit the jackpot with this dish. The smoky grilled meat balanced perfectly with the sweetness of the dipping sauce. The rice noodles soaked up the sauce and offered an excellent, light base that didn't overwhelm the other flavours. We enjoyed the meal immensely and I would recommend for anyone visiting Vietnam to go out of their way to try this beautifully balanced dish.

Meat Skewers on the left, dipping sauce (Nước Chấm) on the right.

Bun Cha Break Down

• Pork Shoulder cut into strips or ground and then grilled over a charcoal fire on a wooden skewer.

• Dipping Sauce or Nước Chấm: The sauce is made on the basis of Nước Mắm, a Vietnamese fish sauce with a distinctive umami flavour. It's diluted with water and then mixed with sugar, juice from Vietnamese limes, garlic, chilli and black pepper. Garnishes include carrots and kohlrabi floating on the surface of the sauce.

• Vermicelli rice noodles (delicate round rice noodles)

• Fresh Herb Salad: Typically contains lettuce, cabbage, lang basil, rice paddy herbs and Vietnamese balm (kinh giới).

• Typical side dishes and condiments include: Vietnamese Limes, sliced chillis, crushed garlic, black pepper and vinegar

Fun Fact

Bún Chả Hương Liên restaurant in Hanoi famously saw former US-President Barack Obama enjoying Bun Cha seated on the iconic little chairs with Chef Anthony Bourdain while he visited Vietnam in 2016.