Quick & Easy Bun Cha Recipe (Vietnamese Meatballs) in 30 Minutes

When we came back home, we asked each other what the best food we had in Vietnam was. Nearly unanimously, bun cha from Hanoi would come up. The delicious, and affordable, vietnamese meatball dish, often served for lunch with a cold beer, vermicelli, a side of greens (naturally), and a dipping broth, was tremendously memorable.

My Travels in Hanoi

I’ve been to Hanoi twice in my life now, though totalling only about 7 days in the city. While the smog, city noise, and general chaos of the city is overwhelming at first, the food here completely wins you over.

Bun cha can be found in many places here in Hanoi. Some of my favourites would be some of the most popular, so the choices won’t be much of a surprise: Bun Cha Dac Kim, Bún Chả Hương Liên, Bún Chả Hàng Quạt, would be my most memorable 3. The few times I’ve had them at a street side family stall, I wouldn’t be able to name the place anyways. There is a constant between them all, however: it’s always delicious.

There’s really little that can make pork patties, marinated in fish sauce, garlic, shallots, and sugar, not taste amazing regardless of the setting. Naturally, after coming back home, I set out to make my own simplified version of this legendary dish.

Ingredients for Bun Cha

The ingredients I tried to keep as simple as possible. The meal is supposed to be a simple street-side one, so let’s not overcomplicate it with too many things. You’ll need:

For patties:

• 2 lbs of ground pork
• 3 tbsp of minced garlic
• 3 tbsp of minced shallots
• 3 tbsp of sugar
• 3 tbsp of fish sauce

Nice and memorable, right?

For the dipping sauce:

• 1 and 1/2 cup of water
• 1/4 cup of fish sauce
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• Sliced apples and carrots to your liking
• Chili peppers (optional)

For sides:

• Vermicelli (often served cold)
• Fresh veggies of your choice (typically lettuce, mint)

Preparing and Cooking Bun Cha

I typically make vermicelli in batches, so I have vermicelli ready in the fridge most of the time. If you don’t, boil and drain the vermicelli prior to cooking the patties (unless you can multi-task well). You can certainly heat up the broth, pan fry the patties, and boil the vermicelli at the same time if you prefer.

After mixing together the pork patties, heat a pan with an oil of your choice (I go with sesame oil). Depending on the thickness of your patties, that will alter the cooking time. I aim to make my pattie about ~3cm in thickness, so the cooking time is quicker. This ensures you only need ~3-4 minutes heating per side.

When the meat goes on the pan, I start to heat up the dipping broth. Though, this can be prepared in advance, like the vermicelli.

Each batch of pork patties takes about 6-9 minutes total, but depends largely on the thickness you shape them into. I’m not very picky on the shape of them, some make it into a meatball shape, but I mostly aim for a thin patty for ease of cooking.

The dipping broth is done after the sugar dissolves. If you leave the carrots and apples in here longer, it will taste better as well.

Presenting Bun Cha

It’s very easy to plate this dish. Depending on the restaurant we went to, the dipping broth would either be in a small bowl, with the patties often rested inside. Other times, the broth would be in a larger one, at which point you’d also throw the vermicelli in there as well.

I plate them seperately only because our dipping broth bowls can’t fit the amount of patties I eat. And you’re done! Bon appetit. Dip a patty into the broth and eat with the vermicelli – enjoy a small taste of Hanoi!

Thanks for Reading!