Chargrilled Pork Patties with Vermicelli Salad

Name: Chargrilled Pork Patties with Vermicelli Salad (Bún Chả)
Yield: Serves 4-6 as part of a Shared Meal
Cuisine: Vietnam
Ingredients: 1 bunch mint, leaves picked; 180 g (6 oz/2 cups) bean sprouts; 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) dried rice vermicelli noodles; 1 bunch perilla, leaves picked; 750 ml (26 fl oz/3 cups) dipping fish sauce; 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) minced pork; 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce; 1 egg, lightly beaten; 3 tablespoons finely chopped red Asian shallots; 2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic; 2 tablespoons fish sauce; 5 spring onions (scallions), thinly sliced; 50 g (1¾ oz/1 bunch) garlic chives, roughly chopped; 1 bunch Vietnamese mint, leaves picked; 1 bunch Asian basil, leaves picked

Bún Chả

Preparation info

Serves
4-6
as part of a Shared Meal

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Songs of Sapa

By Luke Nguyen

Published 2009

About

WALKING THROUGH THE STREETS OF HANOI YOU ARE OFTEN ENGULFED IN A THICK CLOUD OF SMOKE FROM BURNING COAL AS IT CHARS PORK PATTIES. THE FRAGRANT SMOKE GRABS YOU, PULLING YOU IN AS YOU WALK PAST. EVEN WHEN I’M NOT HUNGRY, I FIND IT HARD TO RESIST THEM. THERE ARE ONLY ONE OR TWO BUN CHA STALLS THAT LOCALS TELL YOU TO GO TO IN HANOI, BUT I’VE EATEN AT OVER FIFTEEN STALLS AND HAVE NOT BEEN DISAPPOINTED WITH ANY. IN HANOI, BUN CHA IS USUALLY SERVED WITH NEM RAN (ON THE NEXT PA