Bun Thang, or Hanoi-style rice vermicelli soup, is a peculiar dish showing a delicate culinary style of Hanoians. This is a perfect combination of colors and flavors.
Rice vermicelli is one of the main ingredients of the dish. The rice vermicelli for the soup must be thin, white and soft. Then, chicken flesh, pork bologna and dried shrimp floss are also indispensable. Additionally, pickled dried radish, mushrooms, green onions and Vietnamese coriander help enhance the taste of the dish.
Broth is the soul of bun thang, which is achieved by boiling mushrooms and shrimps. The cook must skim off any cum on the surface to have a clear crystal broth. Moreover, a tasty broth means that diners can taste its sweetness from shrimps and mushroom without a fishy smell.
Last but not least, decoration of the dish will enhance diners’ appetite. After rice vermicelli is blanched quickly and put into a bowl, the cook then uses a wooden frame that are divided into five parts to arrange toppings on the surface of rice vermicelli. These toppings includes sliced fried egg, pork bologna, chicken flesh and pickled dried radish. After that, the cook removes the framed and adds broth.
Bun thang must be served with shrimp paste dipping sauce and lethocerus indicus oil. As the special oil is hard to find nowadays, the shrimp paste sauce is a must-have that reminds food lovers of the characteristic of the capital city’s gastronomy.
By Thanh Thao
