Recipe: 500 grammes of soft and fatty pork belly, arm shoulder picnic or cheek; 500 grammes of ground pork (pork shoulder); lemongrass bulbs, Scallion bulbs, garlic, chili, green papaya or Kohlrabi, carrot, fresh herbs, fish sauce, honey, soy sauce, pepper, vinegar, sesame oil, oyster sauce and other spices. The dish is one of the key dishes of the capital long loved by locals. Writer Thach Lam, famous for his nostalgic prose about ancient Hanoi, wrote in his book ‘Ha Noi: 36 pho phuong’ (Hanoi: 36 streets and guilds) that “Bun cha is the most important and characteristic dish of Hanoi. No place offers better bun cha than Hanoi. Everyone, or at least food connoisseurs, would say that.” (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
The meaty part of the delicious dish, Cha, is made from pork. There are two kinds of grilled pork served in Bun Cha: minced pork patties and thinly-sliced side belly pork. As for the grilled pork slices, the best meat to be used should be pork belly, arm shoulder picnic or cheek, which contains both lean meat and fat. To make the most mouth-watering patties, pork shoulder or cheek is the best ingredient. The pork must be tender and perfectly cooked. In the old days, the pork patty was clamped by bamboo sticks, which have since been replaced by wire racks, and then grilled over a charcoal fire. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
The pork is marinated with ground lemongrass bulbs, minced Scallion bulbs, garlic, fish sauce, honey, soy sauce, pepper, sesame oil, oyster sauce, and spices for at least two hours. It is best to leave the meat marinated overnight. If you prefer the meat to have brown colour, you can add caramel. Squeezing lime juice on the already marinated pork before grilling will make it more tender. The quality of Bun cha depends a lot on the sauce and grilled pork. The pork must be tender and perfectly cooked. In the old days, the pork was clamped by bamboo sticks, which have since been replaced by wire racks, and then grilled over a charcoal fire. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
After being marinated, the pork is ready to be clamped by bamboo sticks or wire racks, and then grilled over a charcoal fire. The meat is cooked until its sides turn dark yellow or brown. In the old days, there were hardly any restaurants serving the tasty dish. It was found only in the handwoven bamboo baskets of vendors who wandered the streets. The places where the vendors stopped were often filled with an impressive aroma of grilled pork. Nowadays, if one sees swirling smoke while driving, it is likely a restaurant grilling pork for Bun cha. Bun cha used to be eaten on summer days as it is eaten with a lot of green, which left diners with a fresh feeling which helped to fend off the summer heat. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
The minced pork patties can be rolled inside Xuong song (Blumea lanceolaria) leaves or La lot (Piper sarmentosum) leaves before being grilled. Nowadays, Bun cha can rarely be found in vendors’ bamboo baskets anymore, but it is widely available on every street of the capital. It is found in rural and urban markets, at food stands on the street, in fine restaurants, and also in many Vietnamese restaurants in foreign countries. Locals eat Bun cha for lunch and dinner, and in all seasons. In the summer, it is served with cool sauce; while in the winter, the sauce is heated up to suit the weather. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
Fresh herbs like such as lettuce, perilla, mint, coriander and basil and quick pickled vegetables are served with bun cha to add more flavours. The pickled vegetables can be carrot, green papaya, or Kohlrabi, or a combination of all of them. They are sliced into thin and small pieces, before being immersed in salty water for a while and then rinsed well. The vegetables are then mixed with salt, vinegar, chili, sugar, and minced garlic. A full Bun cha meal also need a separate plate of rice vermicelli, which should be dipped into the sauce and eaten together with the grilled pork, one full mouth bite at a time. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
Bun cha is a harmonious and healthy combination of rice vermicelli, grilled pork, and fresh herbs. This Hanoi staple is also a tactful blend of different tastes. The noodles dipped in the sauce, and bites of pork and fresh herbs - including lettuce, coriander, Lang basil and perilla - awakens all your taste buds. The accompanying dipping sauce features well-balanced saltiness (fish sauce), sourness (vinegar or lemon), spiciness (chili) and sweetness (sugar). The sauce is sometimes embellished with some thin slices of green papaya or kohlrabi and carrot pickles. It not only indulges diners’ taste buds, but also offers a feast of colours including brown-yellow fish sauce, carrot’s natural orange, light white papaya, and bright red chili. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
Today, many families opt for air fryers to grill the meat if they want to make Bun cha at home. The quality of Bun cha depends a lot on the sauce and grilled pork. The pork must be tender and perfectly cooked. Meanwhile, whether the sauce is good or not depends on the cook’s taste and skills. Some people must rely on precise formulas, for example a 5:1:1:1 mixture of water, fish sauce, sugar and vinegar/lemon juice, but for some cooks, just tasting is enough to make the perfect sauce. On his trip to Vietnam, US president Barack Obama sampled a Bun cha eatery on Ngo Thi Nham Street. Many major international news agencies ran the story, resulting in Vietnamese - and especially Hanoians - taking even greater pride in the dish than ever before. (Photo: VietnamPlus) VNA
