Some unforgettable strong flavor vermicelli soup

When the bowl of vermicelli soup is brought out, the dinner is quite afraid of its smell, but this is the one make these dishes make a goal.

Bun mam (Vermicelli with fish fermented paste soup)

Even though having different appearance, “bun mam” and “bun ca” (fish vermicelli soup) both have the broth making from fermented fish paste.

“Bun mam” is developed from the poached, one of the ancient feature dishes of the Southern delta people. Later on, to increase the flavor and the abundant for the dish, people add a piece of fish, shrimp, squid, roasted pork… Depend on each store, each area, the broth might be made from “ca linh” Cirrhinus molitorella fish or “ca sac” Snakeskin gourami fish, served with type of big vermicelli and some special vegetable of river such as stem of lily, bitter vegetable, banana blossom, “keo neo”, “rau nhut”, bean sprout and lettuce.
Besides “bun mam”, there are some other types of vermicelli soup that also use the broth from those two kinds of fish fermented paste such as fish Chau Doc, Tra Vinh, Kien Giang vermicelli soup. The same recipe, spices so the difference of these dishes come from the accompanied ingredient. For example, Long Xuyen fish vermicelli soup has some pieces of chewy fat fry fish paste, Kien Giang fish vermicelli soup is strengthen by adding more shrimp and its paste. Or Chau Doc fish vermicelli soup is served with roasted pork.

Bun mam thit quay (Dry vermicelli with roasted pork and fish fermented paste sauce)

Original “Bun mam thit quay” has the only one highlight is a bowl of fragrant, bold fermented fish sauce

Talking about “bun mam thit quay”, people usually think of Da Nang, Hoi An. “Bun mam thit quay” doesn’t have broth like “bun bo Hue” or other kind of vermicelli soup but it belongs to dry vermicelli type. It means all ingredients such as vegetable, vermicelli, and meat are placed in a bowl, and poured “mam nem” fermented fish sauce before being served.

Besides the irresistible smell of “mam”, “bun mam thit quay” is attractive because of the crispy pig skin, the light sweetness of vegetable, the fleshiness of boiled baby jackfruit, the crunchiness of peanut. There are two ways to enjoy this dish that are mix them all and enjoy, or eat and mix.

Bun bo Hue (Hue beef vermicelli soup)

The smell of lemongrass, the spiciness of chili hide the smell of shrimp paste in Hue beef vermicelli soup

Coming from the old capital city but this kind of vermicelli dish has become familiar with all the dinners of this “S” country. Familiar, easy to eat but not everyone can realize this type of vermicelli soup cannot complete without shrimp paste. Most of dinner said that because the smell of lemongrass and the spiciness of chili make them not realize the strong smell of this paste.

Bun rieu, bun oc, canh bun (Crab vermicelli soup, snail vermicelli soup, vermicelli soup with water spinach)

Not belonging vermicelli type but “bun dau mam tom” attract the eater because of the strong sense of taste from the paste sauce

When enjoying dihes like “bun rieu” (crab paste vermicelli soup), “bun oc” (snail vermicelli soup), “canh bun” (vermicelli soup with water spinach)… you should season with a bit of shrimp fermented paste sauce to make the dish bolder and more flavorful. You might not recognize the appearance of this paste in the broth or don’t know that by using only the crab paste, the fragrant of the dish cannot wake the dinner’s sense of taste up that much.

*Taro**