People often think that pho is a must-try dish when you come to Hanoi as it is a Hanoi traditional food. However, not many tourists know that the origin of pho has been under the discussion while Bun Thang is surely the genuine dish of Hanoians.
Attractive color palettes
In the past, after 3 days of Tet holiday, Hanoians often had bun thang. Nowadays, people can enjoy bun thang as a Hanoi street food at any time. Although the ingredients are not exactly the same as they were in the past, bun thang is still the most elegant dish of the capital city.
The name of bun thang is special and rouses people’s curiosity. Moreover, bun thang has a unique processing. Hanoian women made use of the leftover after Tet and combine them to make the new dish which is tasty and economical. “Thang” in bun thang is explained as the ingredients of herbal medicines. A culinary specialist assumed that “thang” in Chinese is “soup”, so “bun thang” is known as rice vermicelli in soup. The name of this dish can be explained in many way, but to name the flavor and the charm of it, the word “Excellent” is enough.
Made of the leftover food of Tet, the bowls of bun thang contain many ingredients, these ingredients are ripped or cut into small strips and displayed on the surface of vermicelli. Therefore, bun thang is not only multicolored but also multiflavored.
Bun thang’s ingredients consists of dried shrimp, ripped chicken, gio lua (Vietnamese sausage), omelet, salted eggs,… The sweetness of the broth comes from chicken bone, pork bone and stewed shrimp. Bun thang in Hanoi has delicious flavor and eye-catching look. In the middle of the vermicelli bowl, the cooks carefully put a slice of salted egg. Around that stamen of salted egg are light yellow petal of fried egg, pearly pink petal of gio lua, white petal of ripped chicken adorned the rich yellow of chicken skin, pale red petal of dried shrimp floss, dark brown petal of shiitake. Scallions, fragrant knotweed and chili are scattered on the five petals. A bowl of bun thang now looks like a five color flower in blossom.
Sophistication inside the trifles
The ingredients to make a bowl of bun thang is extremely simple; however, it is not easy to make a bowl of bun thang with true flavor. Therefore, it is not exaggerated to say that bun thang is a sophisticated dish of Hanoians.
Right in Hanoi, not many restaurant can serve bun thang with the standard flavor.
To have the bowls of genuine bun thang, the cooks have to be careful in choosing ingredients, processing and displaying. A bowl of bun thang needs up to 12 types of ingredients. Bun thang in Hanoi is the association of the trifles in a sophisticated way to create the perfect flavor.
The main ingredient is rice vermicelli. Rice vermicelli has to be soft and white. Chicken is shredded, gio lua and omelet is cut into thin strips. Delicious shrimp floss does not have fishy smell. In addition, shiitake, scallions and fragrant knotweed create the fragrance for the bowls of bun thang.
The decisive factor in a bowl of bun thang is the broth. The broth is considered as the soul of bun thang. During boiling, the cooks have to skim the foam on the surface of the broth to make it pure clear. The broth is made of stew shrimp but not fishy.
The final procedure is decorating. Vermicelli is rinsed over boiling water, drained and put into a bowl. To display the ingredients, people of Hanoi used a round frame which is like the small embroidery frame for children. The frame is divided into 5 equal parts to equally put 5 ingredients on the surface of vermicelli.
Enjoying in right way
Such a precise dish must be enjoyed in a right way. The old Hanoians often ate bun thang with mam tom (shrimp sauce) and belostomatidae essence.
Because belostomatidae essence is not easy to find now, the flavor of bun thang is different from it was before. The smell of shrimp sauce may be unpleasant to some people, but it is indispensable in bun thang. People will find that the smell of shrimp sauce become more fascinating when combining with the flavor of bun thang.
One day, when Hanoi cooking class introduces you the way to make this special dish, you will see that to make the best of it you must put all your heart into it like the Hanoians.