Bún chả
Hanoi’s lunch: grilled pork patties and belly in a sweet-sour dipping broth.
Charcoal-grilled pork — both patties and slices of fatty belly — served swimming in a warm, sweet-and-sour fish-sauce broth with pickled green papaya. You dunk cold rice vermicelli and a fistful of herbs into the broth bowl by bowl. A Hanoi institution, eaten at lunch and rarely after 2pm.
How to eat it well
- It arrives deconstructed. Drop noodles and herbs into the broth bowl, not the other way round.
- Order a nem cua bể (sea-crab spring roll) on the side — it is the standard pairing.
- Midday only. A bún chả stall open at 8pm is a tourist trap.
Where it’s best
Hanoi, full stop. The Obama-and-Bourdain spot (Bún Chả Hương Liên) is fine but coasting; locals scatter to dozens of better lunch stalls in the Old Quarter.
Not vegetarian-friendly — the dish is fundamentally grilled pork.
Make it at home
ModerateVery doable on a grill pan; charcoal makes it sing but isn’t essential.
- 1Mix minced pork and thinly sliced pork belly with fish sauce, sugar, minced shallot, garlic, and pepper; shape some of the mince into small patties. Marinate at least 30 minutes.
- 2Make the nước chấm: dissolve sugar in warm water, then balance with fish sauce and lime or vinegar; add minced garlic and chilli, plus pickled green papaya and carrot.
- 3Grill the patties and belly over charcoal or in a hot grill pan until caramelised and a little charred.
- 4Drop the hot grilled pork straight into bowls of the warm dipping sauce.
- 5Serve with rice vermicelli and a big plate of herbs — dunk the noodles and herbs into the pork-and-sauce bowl, bite by bite.
Eat next
The clear beef (or chicken) noodle soup that the rest of the world copies badly.
Bánh cuốnSteamed rice rollsSilky steamed rice sheets rolled around pork and mushroom — a northern breakfast.
Bún riêuCrab & tomato noodle soupA bright, tangy tomato broth with clouds of freshwater-crab paste and tofu.