Traditional 6-generation vermicelli with grilled pork, popular with many customers, grilled meat with the fragrant smell of banana leaves and old bamboo

Located on the first floor of a house stained with time, right near Nam Dinh Church, the most famous bun cha restaurant in Nam Dinh opens from 11am to 7pm every day. A family restaurant since the 19th century, the restaurant is run by the women in the family. From the great-grandfather, to the grandmother, then the aunt, grandchild...

Unlike bun cha in Hanoi or neighboring provinces, bun cha here has its own special features that anyone who has eaten it can recognize right away.

Ingredients to make bun cha include pork belly, vermicelli, onions, carrots, papaya, raw vegetables and spices for dipping sauce... Still the same basic ingredients, but it is the way of preparation that makes the difference of Nam Dinh bun cha.

For the pork to make sausage, it must be lean shoulder or armpit, thinly sliced along the grain, then marinated with spices and clamped on bamboo tongs, not skewers. Each end of the bamboo tongs is tightly rolled with a piece of green banana leaf and grilled on a charcoal stove.

To make the meat evenly cooked and fragrant, the cook will use a bamboo fan to gently fan the fire evenly, so the meatloaf will not burn or overcook, losing the flavor of the meat. To make the meatloaf crispier and more fragrant, it will be grilled again. Through two fires, the smell of the meat is mixed with the smell of banana leaves, a little bit of charcoal fire... all creating an attractive, seductive aroma that invites the hungry stomachs of diners.

Each hot patty was removed to a bowl and placed on top with some chopped onions. The patties were fanned to just the right degree of doneness, still retaining their original color, with only a thin blister on the surface. The meat was soft and sweet, with a faint scent of old bamboo and banana leaves, fragrant and fatty but not greasy. The onions were thinly sliced and washed, and had no pungent taste, perfectly harmonizing with the meat.

The noodles used are small rice noodles, each piece is about the size of two fingers. They are served with a sweet and sour broth and crispy shredded papaya and carrots. The raw vegetables here are also very rich with split water spinach, basil, lettuce, coriander... Visitors can also order fried spring rolls to eat with them.

On busy weekends, people sit on both sides of the sidewalk. 6 or 7 women are constantly busy serving customers. With a price of 40,000 VND, each bowl of bun cha here contains meticulousness, ingenuity and its own secrets that have been passed down for 2 centuries.

Photo: To Phuong Dung, Thuy Chi.

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