- Grilled pork patties (cha vien) and pork belly (cha mieng)
- Nuoc cham broth: fish sauce, vinegar, sugar, garlic, chili, green papaya
- Rice vermicelli (bun), served on the side
- Herb basket: lettuce, perilla, Vietnamese balm, bean sprouts
Bun Cha
Bun cha: grilled pork in broth with vermicelli and herbs. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Bun cha is Hanoi's defining lunch: patties of grilled pork and slices of pork belly served in a warm, sweet-sour fish sauce broth with green papaya, alongside a plate of vermicelli and a basket of herbs. You dunk, you wrap, you eat.
It is a Hanoi-only dish in its true form, eaten at midday from street stalls where the pork grills over charcoal on the pavement. Barack Obama and Anthony Bourdain's 2016 meal at Bun Cha Huong Lien put it on the world map.
Key ingredients
Where to try it
- Bun Cha Huong Lien (24 Le Van Huu, Hanoi): the Obama table.
- Bun Cha Dac Kim (1 Hang Quat, Hanoi): the old-town classic.
- Any lunchtime stall in the Old Quarter: follow the charcoal smoke.