Introducing Bun Cha, the famous caramelised pork meatballs from the stress of Hanoi. Traditional Vietnamese food, made at home! This is an easy Vietnamese recipe that anyone can make that’s full of flavour. No need to hunt down obscure ingredients at an Asian store!
Serve it over vermicelli noodles with Vietnamese Nuoc Cham Sauce and your fresh 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.
It was certainly one of the first foods I hunted down when I visited Vietnam. 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 flimsy stools you spy 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
- Vietnamese Chicken 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 1/2 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 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.
Heather Fields says
Hi Nagi
I am an excessive user of exclamation marks too. It shows I am enthusiastic !!
So pleased you do not pay any attention to punctuation Nazi’s !
These meatballs sound yummy…I cant wait to try as I love your recipes and always raving about them to friends!
Jennifer Vanzella says
Your exclamation marks get me enthused & shows how dedicated you are about cooking, don’t stop!
Will be making these at the weekend.
What a great life Dozer has, gorgeous boy!
Btw I make your potato salad recipe all the time.
HELEN VELLA says
This recipes sounds very yummy. I have been looking for different types of food and this may be the one to start me going. Thank you
Marysue says
This looks YUMMY!!!!!!!! And I LOVE exclamation points! They say, “EXCITEMENT” and “ENTHUSIASM” and “JOY”, all of which most foodies have, most of the time (when talking about food, anyway!!)…so you just KEEP ON with your joyful, exciting, enthusiastic marks!!!!
Kin says
Love Vietnamese food!! Lucky us, we had some wonderful Vietnamese neighbors in our US Navy days!! Fantastic photos, Nagi!! This recipe looks delicious!! Dozer has an excessive amount of adorableness!! The nay-sayers can always get their recipes at any number of other websites that are out there!! BTW, I could be wrong, but in this whole page, (minus the comments!) I think I counted only 27 ! s. (Slacker!!! LOL!!!!)
Mish says
Morning Nagi!
My mouth is salivating – ok I’ll be honest drooling!!!
Will be making this one tonight!
Lisa says
This looks scrumptious – weekend meal for me. Love the pics of Dozer – those ears! Such a gorgeous boy. 🙂
Marlene Mason says
OMG !!!!!!!!!!!! I am so making this on the weekend. I love food in a bowl. Love your food.
Lyn says
Dozer must be the happiest dog in Oz !!!!!!!!!! soooo much fun to be had at the beach.
Robyn says
I was looking for a meat ball recipe for a birthday dinner and this is perfect -can’t wait to try it!!!
Also, there are 2 types of people in this world: us overusers of excalamation marks and the others!!!! Personally, if i see no excalamation marks in emails, texts and the like, i imagine someone speaking dully in a monotone. So in your writing, all I see is excitement and enthusiasm!!! Keep up the great work!!!!!!!!!!!!!
VADNE says
This is a recipe site, not a grammar book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep using the !!!!! as much as you like, Love your site here and try as many recipes I can that suit our tastes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rachel Keyte says
OMG!!!!!!!!!
These look amazeballs!!!!!!!!!!!!
(See what I did there 😂)
You exclaim all you like; I’m one who uses them prolifically too, and I sometimes wonder if it’s too much, then I say Nah!!!!!!!!!
Charina says
OMG… That looks so delicious. And the Vietnam sauce??! I love that stuff! And I wish I knew how to make it. Now I do with your recipe. I totally gotta try this. Thank you!
Ros says
I am amazed that someone complained about your use of exclamation marks!!! To me it just shows your enthusiasm & passion for what you are saying!!! Keep at it!! Love the sound of this recipe. Will try it asap.
Thought you might enjoy this video to make you smile….!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHvExOg4NI0.
Love to you & Dozer
Pippa van Wijk says
Thankyou Nagi – I am so excited to see the recipe I have been waiting for and begging you for. We are leaving to go camping in the bush this morning, so I will have to wait until I come back to try them out. Bring on Monday for a Bun Cha feast – I am going to cook this for dinner!
Patty says
Nagi!, you and Dozer and your recipes are very much loved! I love reading your post because I find myself smiling and truly laughing aloud! Your a blessing to so many people all over this world!! Thank you for making myself and my tummy happy!! And thank you for you!!!
Mike Myers says
Pfffftttt!!!! to the naysayers!!! Your recipes have made me a hero for several years now, and your writing style is fun!
Thanks, Nagi
Lyn says
Can’t wait to try!!! Making your lentil soup today, I’ll report back! Did I miss your Viet Nam itinerary? Planning to go April 2020. Please let me know about itinerary? I love your !!! and I use them all the time as well as your recipes:)
Julie says
Oh WOW! This looks amazing! I cannot wait to try it. Horrible weather in Canada so this will be just a little bit of yumminess to make us feel warmer.
You show your excitement however you like!
Elizabeth says
This is a favorite childhood meal for me. Your bun cha recipe looks delicious. I’m thinking of making this for a big crowd of 10. I’d like to bake or roast the meatballs on a few sheet pans in the oven for ease. Do you have a recommendation on oven temperature and time?