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.
Jacqui says
DELICIOUS! If you like roll’d’s vermicelli salad you will LOVE this. Absolutely making this again! Thanks Nagi, you’re recipes are foolproof & on regular rotation in our household.
Betty Watt says
How much.
Mint not in the ingredients
Nagi says
Hi Betty – it’s listed as a substitute next to coriander in the ingredients list. You can add both if you prefer! Just use as much as you like to your taste for garnish! N x
Maria says
Thank you once again Nagi for a wonderful recipe. Cooked this recipe for a quick Sunday lunch and my family liked it. It was quick and easy and DELICIOUS. I did not have the noodles and beansprouts but instead had parilla leaves and lettuce and of course rice. It felt like a special Sunday meal for us.!
El says
Delicious! My fussy kids loved the meatballs. We made them as cold rolls and it is a great family meal
Kelly says
Hi Nagi
The grocery store is out of fish sauce! Can I use oyster sauce?
Nagi says
Yes! Go ahead 🙂 Or soy sauce! N x
DS says
This was an incredible recipe! Bun Cha was one of the highlights of my Vietnam trip and I’ve been travelling across London to have it at my favourite Vietnamese restaurant (BunBunBun) ever since. But now I can make it at home, and so easily too. The recipe was excellent, all I’d say is 50g of rice vermicelli isn’t enough per portion, I used about 70g. The nuoc cham was perfect. I honestly think this might have been the best thing I’ve ever cooked, thank you! Will be making it again and again!
Sel says
Just made this for lunch and it was absolutely delicious, I was drinking the sauce 🙂
Michele says
Oh Nagi you’ve done it again😋
What can I say YUM fresh, crisp, flavour flavour flavour
Beth says
Just made this and it was really delicious. Couldn’t stop eating it! I was nervous about the amount of fish sauce (don’t eat fish), but no worries – the entire dish was amazing. Now to put away the leftovers for tomorrow!
Nagi says
I am so glad you liked it Beth! N x
Bev Dixon says
tried your Bun Char tonight It was an absolute winner. Added long beans to the recipe. Such a light and tasty dish, will definitely make again
Karen says
Made this to dinner tonight and it is absolutely another Nagi winner! My husband asked that it be added into our regular meal rotation.
Jessica Cooper says
So delicious! I always make extra nuoc Cham and use the leftovers as a sauce to cook down with diced chicken thigh – makes a delicious sticky tasty chicken to serve with a fried rice! Yum yum yum!
Andy says
Hey Nagi,
I don’t usually comment on food sites, but your Bun Cha recipe is one of the best things I’ve cooked this year – my wife and I *loved* it. The only change I would make is to add about 50% more Nuoc Cham – I like a lot of sauce.
Ann says
So far every recipe I have tried from this website has been excellent. This was another great one. I made extra meatballs and froze them for an easy weeknight meal
Iwik says
Wow! Took me back to Hanoi. Very easy to make and so flavoursome and moist. I served with a side cucumber and peanut salad and will definitely be making these again.
Iwik says
How good were these. Easy to prepare and so moist and full of flavour. Served with a cucumber and peanut salad they so reminded me of our visit to Vietnam.
Nagi says
Yes! Food memories! Nx❤️
LFK says
I broiled the bun cha and found it a bit easier than skillet frying. I pre-heated a foil lined broiler pan in the oven. I pulled out the pan, sprayed it with PAM, and added the bun cha. It took 7 1/2 minutes for the patties to reach 160 F. I flipped them every 2 1/2 minutes, and they had a nice, light char.
John says
I made this tonight and I’ll definitely make it again. REALLY good. Thank you for posting it.
Rusty says
Delicious ….. especially done over charcoal.
Diane says
Love it.