Friday, July 18, 2008

bun cha

here are the actual tones, painted on the side of someone's home, i'm sure. i've decided to forgo the tones on all my posts, fully aware that for many of you, it will turn up as "b%4n ch23" or something equally as off-putting.

so here i am in sai gon, with my stomach still in ha noi. if i weren't headed back to my vina-que (hometown) with knox next month, i'd be seriously depressed right now. i've been told many times that sai gon is the culinary capital of the country, but i'm sorry... i just don't buy it.



this is it: bun cha. the gods outdid themselves when they thought this one up! though i've eaten more up north, you can get bun, or 'rice noodles,' all over the country (you may remember the noodles with tofu or as soup with beef - now also commonly referred to as 'mud bunch'!). here, it's the mass of white in the lower right corner. (sorry for the lack of definition, btw). directly above is the plate of mint, lettuce, cilantro and sprouts that are delicious and always good for a few rumbles in the tummy later (it's a sad reality - uncooked greens are a dicey game. but i'm braving the tummy rumble in the name of flavor! and a few unpleasant moments aside, it's totally worth it.) above that and to the left we have the bowl of diced garlic and red and orange chiles. i always get a little carried away here, particularly with the chiles, and end up sweating into my bowl... next we come to the heart of the dish: cha, which is ground pork, onions, pepper, and maybe a pinch of egg (?) fried into the most glorious little patties (my man knox is going to be in heaven!). the last bowl contains fish sauce and slivers of papaya. i usually choose this as my main bowl (though i've seen others opt to work out of the cha bowl): you start by adding chiles and garlic, working the broth up to your desired level of KICK, then you grab a patty, a small chunk of noodles, and some herbs... soak them all in the sauce for a sec, and bon appetit! this process is repeated till the pork is gone or until your tiny plastic stool collapses under you! i've done myself some serious damage at this restaurant - the "i have to go home and lie down now" kind of damage that only comes from irresistibly good food. friends, bun cha is it!

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