Bun Cha Hanoi (Hanoi Style Vermicelli with Grilled Pork and Pork Patties)

June 7, 2009 | 18 comments

If you’ve been reading our blog since the beginning (just a month ago!), we’ve been building upon different recipes to create our favorite traditional Vietnamese dishes. Bun Cha Hanoi is another great way to use a varietion of what we’ve already made (thit nuong, a variation of nem nuong, and picked carrots and daikon). As the name implies, this dish originates from the city of Hanoi in northern Vietnam, but is very popular throughout the country. It is similar to Bun Thit Nuong, in that both vermicelli and grilled pork are used, however the difference is that it includes a cha (pork sausage patties) and both grilled meats are soaked in nuoc mam cham, allowing it to soak up all the flavors of the nuoc mam. The cha nuong in this dish is slightly different then nem nuong in that there’s no garlic.

Serve the dish with grilled meats and pickled vegetables as well as pickled green papaya in a separate serving bowl and allow guests to spoon on the savory goodness of Bun Cha Hanoi over vermicelli and fresh herbs.

When meats are done, place in a covered medium sized sauce pan containing the nuoc mam cham and pickled vegetables. The juices of the meat will darken and meld with the fish sauce. Allow to soak for at least 5 minutes until service. Serve family style with vermicelli and fresh herbs and vegetables.

Bun Cha Hanoi

Make sure you start with warm or room temperature nuoc cham so that it does not cool down the meats.
Ingredients:
Pork patties:
1 lb ground pork
1 large shallot minced
1 ts fish sauce
1/2 ts sugar
1/2 ts msg
1/2 ts ground pepper
1/2 ts caramel sauce
slurry
1/4 ts baking powder
2 ts potato starch
2 tb water
Pork Skewers
1 lb pork butt/shoulder or pork belly, thinly sliced
1 tbs fish sauce
1 shallot, minced
1 ts caramel sauce
1/2 ts sugar
1/2 ts ground pepper
12 bamboo skewers, soaked in water
Pickled green papaya
1 cup green papaya, thinly sliced in 1 inch squares
1/4 cup vinegar
2 tbs sugar
1 ts salt
Vermicelli rice noodles, cook according to directions.
Vietnamese herbs
Directions:
Combine pork patty ingredients in mixing bowl and mix well. In a separate small bowl combine the slurry and add to meat mixture and mix well. Keep meat mixture in the fridge for about 1/2 hr to let it set and easier to handle when forming patties. Form patties, in small disks about 2 inches wide and 1 inch thick. Set aside.
Combine ingredients for the pork skewers at least 1/2 hr. Skewer onto bamboo skewers or use a grill mesh basket.
Quick pickle the papaya by dissolving the salt and sugar in vinegar and add the papaya and set aside.
Grill both patties on medium heat to get nice char. Remove the pork from the skewers and place along with the patties into a big bowl of nuoc mam cham. Add the green papaya and serve with vermicelli and herbs.