Introducing Bun Cha, the famous caramelised pork meatballs from the streets of Hanoi. Traditional Vietnamese food – made at home!
This is an easy Vietnamese recipe that anyone can make that’s fresh and full of flavour. Load it up with your vegetables of choice!
Bun Cha – traditional Vietnamese street food!
Any self respecting foodie visiting a new country will be armed with a list of “Must Try Foods!!“. And for visitors of Vietnam, Bun Cha should be right up there, alongside Pho, fresh rice paper rolls, and Banh Mi, to name a few favourites.
During the RecipeTin Family foodie trip to Vietnam a few months ago, it was one of the first foods we hunted down. A top-priority!
These are photos of a Bun Cha speciality place in Hanoi that we visited. The Bun Cha was as great as we expected, and I’m happy to report the stools held up for the whole meal. (Flimsy plastic stools are the norm everywhere, and we were seriously concerned every time we planted our butts down on them)
What is Bun Cha?
Bun Cha is a traditional Vietnamese pork dish that’s a speciality of Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam. Seasoned pork patties (I call them squished meatballs) and caramelised pork belly slices are served in a broth alongside rice noodles, fresh vegetables and herbs.
How to eat Bun Cha – The idea is to use the broth for dunking the noodles, vegetables and herbs. So you dunk, slurp noodles, bite into juicy pork, try to cram in a few sprigs of herbs – and that moment when you succeed, when you get a mouthful with a bit of everything…
THAT my friends, is a big, fat mouthful that epitomises all that is great about Vietnamese food. That perfect balance of fresh, savoury, sweet, herb, citrus, tender noodles, and that juicy caramelised pork….. YES!!!
About this Bun Cha recipe
This Bun Cha recipe I’m sharing today is a simple home version that’s a style more familiar to those of us outside of Vietnam. On point with flavour, but presented differently.
To make this a simple dinner recipe, I’ve skipped the pork belly and made noodle bowls with the sauce for spooning over, rather than serving it “soup” style. This Noodle Bowl way of serving Vietnamese food is increasingly popular here in Sydney, especially with the work lunch crowd.
How to make Vietnamese Meatballs
You’ll love how you won’t need to take a trip to an Asian store for this! You’ll also love how versatile this recipe actually is.
The Vietnamese (squished) meatballs are just made with pork, garlic, sugar, fish sauce*, salt, pepper and scallions/green onions. Fish sauce is the key seasoning here, and the touch of sugar that makes the surface beautifully caramelised.
The Vietnamese Sauce is a version of Nuoc Cham, a version of which is served with “everything” in Vietnamese cuisine (and that’s no exaggeration).
The sauce for Bun Cha is made with fish sauce*, rice wine vinegar, lime juice, sugar, garlic and chilli (hot or not hot, or even skip it). It’s diluted with water to make it more like a soup broth. In a nod to the authentic way Bun Cha is served, the idea with this recipe is to use lots of sauce. You need it, to slurp up the noodles!
* I know there are people who aren’t a fan of fish sauce. But fish sauce is as Vietnamese as Banh Mi, so I really do urge you to use it if you can. This recipe is in no way “fishy” tasting like some Vietnamese foods. It’s just a savoury seasoning that has more depth of flavour than soy sauce.
Essential Sides
To complete the bowl, these Vietnamese Meatballs are served traditional Bun Cha style with noodles, fresh vegetables and herbs.
The noodles are rice vermicelli noodles, found “everywhere” nowadays in Australia. Simply soak in boiling water for a couple of minutes, then drain.
Fresh vegetables and herbs are an essential part of Vietnamese food, and you’ll get large bowls served alongside almost every meal. Bean sprouts, mint and coriander/cilantro are the most common, as well as pickled vegetables.
But this is the sort of recipe that’s terrifically versatile that will work well with many types of vegetables. Shredded cabbage or lettuce, or other leafy greens. Finely sliced cucumber, green beans, red radish, cherry tomatoes, even asparagus. Most fresh vegetables will work great in this!
In today’s recipe, I’ve also provided a quick Asian pickled vegetables recipe which is ideal to serve with this Bun Cha recipe. But pickling is optional.
The length of the list of ingredients is actually quite deceptive because there’s a handful of repeat ingredients. So don’t be turned off just because this isn’t a 5 ingredient recipe. 🙂
It’s worth it, I promise. If you love Vietnamese food (and I don’t know anyone who doesn’t!), this one will really hit the spot! – Nagi x
Get your Vietnamese fix!
- Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls
- Lemongrass Chicken – one of my favourite things to grill!
- Vietnamese Caramel Pork – another iconic Vietnamese food! Also see the Chicken version.
- Vietnamese Caramelised Pork Bowls – the super quick version of the above
- Vietnamese Noodle Salad
Bun Cha – Vietnamese Meatballs
Watch how to make it
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Bun Cha - Vietnamese Meatballs
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 250 - 300 g/8 - 10 oz pork mince (ground pork)(Note 1)
- 1 tbsp fish sauce (Note 2)
- 2 tsp white sugar
- 1/3 cup finely chopped green onions / scallions
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- Pinch of white pepper and salt
- 2 tsp lemongrass paste or fresh finely chopped , optional (Note 4)
- 1.5 tbsp oil , for cooking
Nuoc Cham (Vietnamese Dressing / Sauce - Note 2):
- 3 tbsp white sugar
- 3 tbsp fish sauce (Note 2)
- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1/3 cup (85 ml) water
- 1 birds eye chilli , seeded and finely chopped (Note 3)
- 3 cloves garlic , finely chopped
Serving (Note 4):
- 100 g / 3.5 oz vermicelli noodles , dried
- Big handful beansprouts
- Few lettuce leaves , folded or shredded
- Julienned carrot and white radish (daikon), optional quick pickle (Note 5)
- Handful of coriander/cilantro sprigs , mint
- Sliced red chilli , lime wedges (optional)
Instructions
- Sauce: Mix ingredients. Set aside 10 minutes+.
- Noodles: Pour over boiling water and soak per packet directions. Drain, set aside.
Meatballs:
- Mix all ingredients except oil until combined.
- Shape into 6 mini hamburger patties with your hands.
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add patties and cook for 2 1/2 minutes or until golden. Flip, cook 2 minutes then remove.
Assemble Bowls:
- Place noodles in bowl. Top with a handful of beansprouts, wedge in lettuce, carrots and radish in.
- Place meatballs on top, top with coriander and mint.
- Spoon over a generous amount of Sauce (it's supposed to be like a soup broth), eat and be happy!
Recipe Notes:
8. Adapted from a few Vietnamese cookbooks, including My Vietnamese Kitchen by Uyen Luu and Hanoi Street Food by Luk This and Tom Vandenberghe. 9. Nutrition is for meatballs and sauce only, assuming all sauce is consumed.
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Title says it all – this is the Life of Dozer.
Can I grill the pork meatballs instead of frying in the skillet or will that alter the flavor?
It will alter it for sure…it will make it BETTER!! Do it Alyssa! N x
Ok this was another hit! Super delicious! And a great summer meal! I used lemon zest instead of lemongrass and chili flakes instead of the thai bird chilies – turned out fabulous!
My husband pronounced this a home run recipe!! A simple to make recipe that was incredibly delicious!
Just cooked your recipe and loved it!!!! Very tasty, fresh flavor, we will cook it again and again!
We pimped the Nuoc Cham with a little apple juice and sweet chili sauce for our taste.
Thanks for sharing
I just made this recipe, but a burger, and with ground chicken breast. For the burger sauce, I used mayo, fish sauce, Splenda, garlic, bird’s eye chili, and lime zest. BEST BURGER EVER!
Sound perfect Elizabeth! N x
Omg this recipe is EVERYTHING! I wasn’t expecting it to be as delicious as it turned out to be – just like the bun cha I had in a Vietnam! I’d forgotten how flavourful it was. And it’s very simple to make once you have all the ingredients, although first time it’ll probably take longer than 30 mins (but as it’s mainly throwing everything together and then quickly frying, I think I’ll get quicker as time goes on)
Delicious! I’ve had Vietnamese food in restaurants, and one day I hope to be able to go! Thank you for sharing this recipe. I included the lemongrass and added oyster sauce. I don’t eat meat often and this felt like such a different and amazing flavor!
Your recipe looks fairly straightforward for your typical home chef. Lemongrass, I must consider, is an essential aspect to making bun cha as my instructors in Hanoi taught me a year ago, but it’s not a dealbreaker to not have it. The recipe I use also has a bit of oyster sauce, a bit more garlic, and even coconut cream.
Minced red onion is also nice to have in the meatballs, as well as
Made this recently, it’s amazeballs! 🙂 Dinner in under 30 mins? who would’ve thought?!
Nothing more satisfying that a quick, tasty meal!!! N x
Under 30 minutes? What with preparing the meatballs, all the chopping, shredding greens, herbs, making nuoc cham, you must be The Flash!
Common is throwing bread and egg into the Meatball Mixture but not in this recipe….its so beautiful …rich in taste with the lemon grass and fish sauce in it and the more fatty pork holds it all together, giving the meatball a more tender consistence….beside my own taste, I always go by my boyfriends reaction. We r hunting, living of red meat mostly….your Pork and Chicken recipes are a refreshing change in our diet….Always following Nagi and loving it all….
These were AMAZING! A new favorite that we will be making again and again 🙂 Thank you!
You’re so welcome Michelle! N x
Absolutely delicious! The flavours are amazing, very fresh tasting. Loved the Nuoc Cham sauce, it made the dish. Thanks for yet another no-fail recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Carina, that’s fantastic to hear! N x
I love this recipe! My only question is, how do your pork patties stay together? Without the added egg (or something to make the ingredients stay together), my patties always end up falling apart… Any tips?
I’ve only made this once but the patties stayed in one piece, no problem.
Hi Nagi,
This was absolutely delicious. I relished this back in Vietnam and was super excited to try this out. It turned out amazing although I hardly find bean sprouts out here. I have left over sauce, can I refrigerate and use it in a week’s time?
Hi Merl, you can refrigerate the dressing up to 3 days as it has raw garlic in it. N x
These look amaaaazing and I’m looking forward to making them. My question is could a bake the mini patties or would it change the flavour too much? Also, what temperature would you suggest if baking is ok? Thank you! Your site is wonderful 🙂
Hi DanaLea, I’d spray with oil and bake for 20 minutes at 190C / 375F. N x
The pork patties were delicious. Thank you Nagi for another delicious recipe. I did not have scallions. So, I used minced onion. Put in a little bit of ground birds eye chili that I had in the freezer. The pork that I had was coarsely ground. So, it was better described as minced.
Sounds like you nailed it Jasmine!!
I have just made your pork balls and they are magnificent. Love love love them. Feeling like a Vietnamese cook, didn’t know I could do it. These truly taste like the real deal (even though I used lemongrass paste and read afterwards that the original recipe doesn’t call for any). Many thanks
My Partner is Vietnamese and thought every part of this was delicious, the burgers, sauce, and pickled veggies!!
I’m a bit of a geek on temperature and cooking. I cooked the burgers at 350 to 375 F on an electric griddle and measured the internal temperature with an instant read thermometer. It took about 10 minutes of flipping to get them to 160 F, the safe temperature for ground pork.
I’m so glad it was a hit!
I can’t even tell you how thrilled I am to have come across this recipe! I went to Vietnam 2 years ago and ate in the exact same bun cha shop!! I tell people it was the best meal I ever had. So sad that I would probably never have it again! There are dozens of Southern Vietnamese restaurants where I live, but none with North Vietnamese food. Now I can make it myself!!! Thank you so much!!
Oh I’d love to know what you think once you try it Kristy!!! N x