Stall 1080 - Bun Bo Hue

Off the grog and on the grub again at Ben Thanh Market. This time for a soup stop at stall 1080. Bun Bo Hue is yet another of those Vietnamese non-soups. Much like Mi Quang and Bun Rieu the bowl's burstin' with bits of this 'n' that and your dish ends up far less soup, much more saucy meat noodle potpourri.

The name itself gives this dish away, Bun Bo Hue comes from the central region of Hue. More precisely, the real deal (apparently) comes from Gia Hoi. The key is the broth. It has a sweet tang to it and ladled in among the liquid are fatty pork slivers, rare beef, chopped spring onions, two kinds of spamsticks and fairly thick fresh bun (noodles). There's also a side dish of beansprouts, saw tooth herb and peculiar to Bun Bo Hue is the stripped end of a banana. (I say the 'end' as I wasn't sure what it was, so I asked the guy next me who said it was the 'banana end'. I'm inclined to believe we're talking green banana here, although my man insisted it wasn't... hmmm??) Anyhow... chuck a bit of what you fancy into your broth/saucy noodle bowl combo and get stuck in.

The spam sticks are slightly sweet, beef is tender enough and the pork fat gets trimmed as a matter of course wherever it rears its ugly head. The tepid soup was blindin', it was due top praise with a bowl tilting slurp draining all remaining broth drops. The moorish crunch of banana 'ends' (if that's what they actually are) gives this dish ten tropical rustic points out of ten. It's good filling stuff for 10,000VD. This stall also churns out four other noodle soups; Bun Mam, Mien Ga, Bun Moc and Hu Tieu.

Comments

[Reid]

Noodle pie,

Seems like there are just so many different types of noodle/soup dishes in Vietnam that we never get to see outside of that country. I've tried to ask for some of the dishes in your write-ups, most times without success. A lot of the Vietnamese restaurant owners say that many of the ingredients are hard to find outside of that country. BTW, this soup looks really tasty. Your commentary proves that it's as good as it looks...thanks for making me hungry! =)

[pieman]

You're right Some dishes are difficult to find outside the country and I doubt they're authentic, but I very seldom eat in Vietnamese restaurants outside Vietnam.

Some ingredients, particularly certain herbs and veg, are even difficult to find outside the province they are grown in.

[FatMan Seoul]

I believe you\'re referring to the \"flower\" or \"heart\" of the banana tree. You\'re talking about a light yellow vegetation? It\'s also used a lot in Thai cooking.

[pieman]

One step ahead of me fats. It just dawned on me on the way back from lunch what the guy meant by 'ends'. Banana flower. Talk about thick.

[wombat]

The *banana-end* that you are referring to is in fact banana flower or should i call it *banana shoot*. For these kind of dishes (or bowl), amongst other herbs it is usually sliced and mix with the stems of a type of weed ( - we call them water spinach here in Australia, the vietnamese call it *rau muon*) - The stem of this veg. is also sliced, soak in water and they are all curled up!.

yuk!

[John]

I like the soup if it's not too spicy. Mmmm tangy sweet noodles and beef !

[Joe Levan]

oooh! you guys make me hunry. dan it, I will call my wife and tell her to make me a bow of Bun Bo Hue to-nite. I will made all of you envy, cause I live here in the Bay Area and my wife can cook that Bow of Hue hahahaha. The real one baby, you just have to marry the Right One. Chao