Bún Bò Huế: The Spicy Beef Noodle Soup of Central Vietnam

Bún bò Huế is the most famous dish to come out of the old imperial capital. It is a beef-and-pork noodle soup, but the broth is built on lemongrass, fermented shrimp paste and a slick of chilli-annatto oil that turns the surface a deep brick red.

What it is

Round rice vermicelli (bún) thicker than the strands used in bún chả, served in a broth simmered for hours from beef shank and pork bones. The aromatics are crushed lemongrass and shallot. The seasoning is mắm ruốc, a pungent fermented shrimp paste, which gives the soup its salty depth. On top: a piece of beef shank, a wedge of cured pork sausage (chả Huế), often a hock of pork knuckle, sometimes a cube of congealed pig blood. The garnish plate is shredded banana flower, bean sprouts, lime, sliced chilli, and Vietnamese mint.

Origin and history

The dish belongs to Huế, capital of the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. Huế cuisine in general is showier and more highly seasoned than the food of Hanoi or Saigon, a legacy of having to feed and impress an imperial court. Bún bò Huế is the working-class cousin of that tradition: the same insistence on lemongrass and chilli, but in a bowl any market stall can serve.

Where to try it

In Huế, the canonical addresses are Bún Bò Bà Tuyết Tốn Thất Thiệp at 47 Tôn Thất Thiệp, and Bún Bò Mệ Kéo on Bạch Đằng. A bowl runs 40,000 to 60,000 VND. Both open early and close when the pot is empty, usually by mid-morning.

In Hanoi, look for Quán Bún Bò Huế Lý Quốc Sư or any stall on Quang Trung street. In HCMC, Bún Bò Gánh on Mạc Đĩnh Chi is a reliable air-conditioned option for around 80,000 VND.

How to eat it

Squeeze in the lime, tear the herbs by hand into the bowl, add a pinch of chilli if you can take it, and stir once. Use chopsticks for the noodles and meat, the spoon for the broth. Do not drown the bowl in sauces from the table; the broth is already finished.

Regional variations

Outside Huế the soup is often milder and sweeter, particularly in the south where a little sugar creeps into the broth. Hanoi versions sometimes drop the pork knuckle. The Huế original is the spiciest and most assertive.

Honest take

If you only ever eat phở in Vietnam you are missing the country's other great noodle soup. Bún bò Huế is louder, more perfumed and more divisive — the shrimp paste is not for everyone — but a good bowl in Huế itself is one of the great breakfasts in Southeast Asia.

Related reading: Phở, Central and southern cuisine, Huế food guide, Huế, Street food etiquette.