Bún chả (Vietnamese pork meatballs with vermicelli)
Simple, quick and flavourful. Can be served in a vermicelli bowl, the traditional way dunked in the fish sauce as rice paper rolls. Cha how you want.
Ingredients
Cha (pork patties)
- 500 g pork mince
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp raw sugar
- 2 spring onions , finely diced
Nuoc Cham (dipping sauce)
- ¼ cup raw sugar
- ¼ cup fish sauce
- 1 cup warm water
- squeeze of lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 2 birdseye chilli , minced
Serve with
- Lettuce leaves
- Vietnamese mint
- Mint
- Perilla
- Pickled carrots
- Vermicelli
Instructions
- In a bowl, add the sugar, fish sauce and pour in hot water. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add in the garlic and chillis and stir to combine. Squeeze in a wedge of lemon and taste. Add more lemon juice as required. Set it aside to cool down.
- In a bowl, add in the pork mince, oyster sauce, fish sauce, white pepper, sesame oil, chopped spring onion and chopped black fungus. Mix together until it looks smooth. Cover and pop in the fridge to marinate for 30 minutes.
- Take about 2 tbsp of pork and roll into a ball using the palms of your hands.
- To a hot pan, add in 1 tbsp of neutral flavoured oil. Add the balls in the pan, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Using the back of a spoon, gently press down to flatten to create the patty. Cook each side for about 4-5 minutes. You’re aiming for quite a dark colour on each side. Note that the bigger they are, the longer you will need to cook them for.
- Prepare the vermicelli according to pack instructions, drain and put aside.
- In a bowl, add some lettuce, Vietnamese mint, mint, perilla leaves, pickled carrot (optional), vermicelli and the pork patties. Drizzle on top the nuoc cham with spare sauce on the side for additional dipping.