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 over a plate of white rice noodle and herbs with a side dish of dipping sauce.
Ingredients:
- For the pork meatballs:
1 1/2 lb ground pork
1/4 cup sugar
4 1/2 tablespoons water, divided
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup minced shallots
2-3 lemongrass stalks, white part only, finely minced
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons oyster sauce
black pepper
- For the dipping sauce:
1/4 cup lime juice
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup water
2 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
thinly sliced carrots and/or green papaya (optional)
- Other ingredients:
vermicelli noodles
butter lettuce (or other soft lettuce)
cilantro
mint
Procedure:
- In a small saucepan, add 1/4 cup of sugar and 3 tablespoons of water. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium, continue to simmer. You will see a lot of bubbles on the surface. The mixture will then turn from clear to yellow, and get darker as you simmer it. Reduce the heat if needed. Keep watching closely, until it has a lightly dark caramel color, turn off the heat and carefully add 1 1/2 tablespoons of water. Swirl the saucepan to combine and remove it from the stove. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, add the ground pork, caramel sauce and all other ingredients for the pork meatballs. Mix for a couple of minutes to combine thoroughly. Set aside for 10-15 minutes or marinate in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours for tastier results.
- To make the dipping sauce, whisk together lime juice, sugar, water, and fish sauce in a bowl. Adjust to taste.Add garlic, and add thinly sliced carrots and green papaya if using.Set aside.
- Prepare vermicelli noodles according to package instructions. Prepare lettuce and fresh herbs.
- Heat the grill pan (or preheat gas grill/charcoal grill if that's what you use to cook the meatballs). Shape the marinated pork into small meatballs. Once the pan is hot, grill them in a single layer until fully cooked.
- Put the grilled meatballs in the dipping sauce, serve immediately with noodles, lettuce and herbs.
Author: Benedict Rivera
Comments