When I think about Vietnamese noodles, the
My first taste of bun bo Hue (pronounced "boon bo way") was at this dark, dinghy sidewalk stall in Hue. This was the 4th of our 5 stop Hue food tour by cyclo (trishaw) arranged by our guide Nguyen Ngoc An of Connect Travel. (More about this food tour in my next post on Hue cuisine.)
Bun bo Hue isn't as well travelled as pho which is found all over the world, partly because it is more of an acquired taste but I fell in love with it's riotous blend of bold flavours straightaway with the first few mouthfuls.
The watery stock was savoury beefy porky sweet with a bit of heat and aroma from lemongrass. Bun bo Hue means "beef noodles from Hue" but the soupy dish actually contains both beef and pork.
Buried below were thick rice and cassava vermicelli (like bee hoon) which were soft and smooth like good Ipoh kway teow (but round and thinner). There's a choice of toppings which include lean beef slices, beef shin slices, pork, pork blood curd, and crab meat & minced pork ball.
Bun bo Hue is eaten with raw leafy aromatic greens like mint, basil, coriander, chopped scallion, etc and slivers of banana blossom which add crunch and lots of fragrances and flavours to the already flavourful beefy savoury sweet spicy dish. I especially love the crunch and slight tannic taste of banana blossom shreds.
If lemongrass doesn't give you enough kick you can add cut chili pepper and chili flakes.
This popular sidewalk stall is known as Bún Bò Huế Bà Bớt located at 11 Hà Nội, Vĩnh Ninh, Thành phố Huế (in downtown Hue). Tel: +84 379 888 770.
My second taste of bun bo Hue was made for us by Mdm Doan when we visited her family home. Same beefy porky, slightly spicy broth with beef slices and that yellow hued crab meat & minced pork ball. Mdm Doan's rendition was cleaner tasting but equally robust with well balanced savoury sweet spicy flavours.
Mdm Doan showed us the amount of lemongrass that goes into making a pot of beef and pork bone soup for bun bo Hue. The crab & meat balls add more flavour to the soup. A bit of chili and fermented prawn paste gave the broth a reddish brown hue (and more flavours, of course).
The crab meat & pork ball is one of the defining ingredients of bun bo Hue. The tender ball has layers of savoury sweetness from the crab and pork.
My third bowl of bun bo Hue for this trip to Hue was at a hawker stall in Cho Dong Ba market. This time I had the crab & pork ball plus pork blood curd. The pork blood curd tasted savoury and was quite firm to the bite. The blood curd was thoroughly cooked and was tasty.
We roamed and explored downtown Hue's fascinating Cho Dong Ba market (beside the Perfume River) in the morning. Hundreds of colourful stalls selling vegetables, fruits, poultry, fish, seafood, meat, and everything from sauces to dry food.
This stall sells all the greens such as banana blossom, mint, lettuce, bean sprout, saw tooth herb, Vietnamese coriander etc garnishing required for bun bo Hue assembled for easy selection.
Attraction: Cho Dong Ba market
Address: 2 Trần Hưng Đạo, Phú Hoà, Thành phố Huế, Thừa Thiên Huế.
Hours: 6:00am - 6:00pm (be early for the fresh food market)
We actually had a 4th bun bo Hue, if we count also the vegetarian version at San May, a relatively upmarket vegetarian restaurant in Hue (reputedly one of the best in the city).
The crab & meat ball was there, so were the beef and pork slices but everything was made with soy bean curd, mushrooms and vegetables. Clean tasting and delicious even though it was meatless.
Restaurant name: Sân Mây Huế
Address: 8 Thanh Tịnh, Vỹ Dạ, Thành phố Huế, Thừa Thiên Huế
Hours: 7:00am - 9:00pm (Sat & Sun) (Other days by appointment)
Tel: +84 93 199 99 72
Recommended for you 👍 Next time you are in a Vietnamese restaurant, check if they have bun bo Hue (instead of always asking for pho). Better still, come to Hue in Vietnam for a taste of the iconic dish in its birthplace. Just be careful that it might change your way of eating Vietnamese noodles forever - it happened to me 😄 Don't be like Tony, if you are a PHO-natic.
Our food tour to Hue was arranged by Nguyen Ngoc An of Connect Travel.
I flew to Hue by VietJet Air (via Danang).
Date visited: 1 - 7 Mar 2020
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