Worker's noodles

Canh Bun is a working man's lunchtime bowl of noodles - rough, honest food for hard men and women who plough paddies and dig roads all day long. Well, I think it is. That's how I imagine the average Canh Bun muncher in Saigon anyhow. Somewhat romantic, wildly misguided? probably. I mean, there aren't any paddy fields in Saigon for a start and there were certainly no rugged types at Ty's stall on Ben Thanh market on this visit. It was office worker, housewife & skiving scribe hour this lunchtime. However, Canh bun is a rakish bedfellow the petit bourgeois in all of us should give in to at least once.

Canh bun consists of rau muong (morning glory), thick (bun) noodles, fried tofu, minced crab and stock. It's earthy, it's healhy, it's blinkin' marvellous. I have only ever tried one Canh bun - this one - and although there's many a soup that is tastier and more sophisticated in the Vietnamese cannon there is none that brandishes quite such peasant personality. A helping hand in the flavour department comes from bowls of freshly minced red chilis, sliced lemons and mam tom. Mam tom is the pungent purplish sauce/paste that would clear most restaurants of customers if it was let loose in your average, western eatery, but for the full Canh bun monty you really should add a spoonfull of this caustic chap. The putrid pong dissipates in the soup and transforms a good ol' straight 4 cylinder Canh Bun into a throbbing V8 charged brothbuster. Peasant power for the people... or something like that.

Peasant or otherwise I couldn't begin to replicate this back at pieman towers. I'm sure the stock is a killer to concoct and at 6,000VD a throw on the market it's hardly worth the effort trying for yourself. But it is worth the motorbike taxi fare down to the market for a dose of this dish any day of your week.

Comments

[Reid]

This looks so tasty. By the way, what does the mam tom sauce taste like? Is it like a shrimp paste? By the looks of these photos, perhaps I should take a side trip to Vietnam when I go to S'pore later this year.

[pieman]

Can't tell you what it tastes like. Yes - it is a shrimp paste. I've never been brave enough to devour it solo. It has the acid aroma of manky prawns, very dead cod and old socks. It's how I imagine Satan's crotch might smell. Is that any help?

[Reid]

Pieman,

Yes it does help. What I'm thinking of is either harm ha or bagoong. The former is a Chinese shrimp sauce, and the latter Filipino. I can almost imagine the aroma which is very potent indeed, but quite delicious if served correctly.

[pieman]

Can't actually imagine eating this stuff on its own. I've seen people dip dog meat into it and I have had it with a northern fried fish dish called Cha Ca - which it really works well with - but solo... Nah.

[Jill]

This blog is fantastic! I am looking for a recipe for Banh da lon. If you have one in English could you forward it to me? Appreciation in advance!

[pieman]

Thaks Jill - I don't have a Banh da lon recipe. You could try asking over at the excellent Egulllet forum:
http://forums.egullet.com/

[vy]

wow look so good, do you have the recipe for it :D

[Tasha]

Does any one has the recipe for Banh Da Lon? Please share. Thanks