Bún Đậu Mắm Tôm: Vietnamese noodles for adventurous palate

What is “Bún Đậu Mắm Tôm”?

In Vietnamese, “Bún Đậu Mắm Tôm” literally translates to “Rice vermicelli served with fried tofu and fermented shrimp sauce.”

Initially, it was popular among the blue-collar workers in Hanoi because the ingredients—rice noodles, tofu, shrimp paste, and fresh herbs—were affordable and easily accessible. This story is quite similar to Cơm Tấm (broken rice) in the South.

As Vietnam’s economy flourished, people elevated this humble dish by incorporating more meat-based toppings, such as:

• Nem Rán: Hanoi fried spring rolls.
• Chả Cốm: fried pork sausage with young rice flakes. I sometimes substitute it with Chả Lụa (Vietnamese pork roll).
• Thịt Luộc: boiled pork belly or pork trotter.
• Lòng Rán: fried pork intestine.
• Dồi Huyết: blood sausages.

I used to believe that Bún Đậu Mắm Tôm wasn’t for non-Vietnamese natives, until I stumbled upon this article in The New York Times.

It left me in awe. A restaurant with a completely Vietnamese concept (reminiscent of a Hanoi street food eatery) and offering a menu full of authentic Hanoi dishes has been warmly embraced by New York locals.

In Germany, sometimes I prepare this dish with my Hanoi friend. It doesn’t take much time, and the flavor is absolutely worth it. Even if you find fermented shrimp paste challenging, you can still enjoy the dish with the Nước Chấm dipping fish sauce.

An abundance of Vietnamese herbs served alongside helps balance the flavors of the dish.

Some popular herbs for Bún Đậu Mắm Tôm include Rau Kinh Giới (Vietnamese Balm or Cockscomb Mint), Tía Tô (Vietnamese Perilla), Húng Quế (Thai Basil), Húng Láng (Hanoi Basil), lettuce, and cucumber.

Another distinctive feature is the pressed rice vermicelli, known as Bún Lá (Leaf-shaped Rice Noodles) in Vietnamese.

Unlike other Vietnamese rice noodle dishes such as Bún Gà Nướng or Bún Thịt Nướng, where the noodles are separate, Bún Lá is pressed into a leaf-shaped block. This block is then cut into pieces, making it easier for dipping into the shrimp paste sauce.

Ingredients

Well, this dish is much simpler than what I described. Only rice noodles, tofu, herbs, and dipping sauces (Mắm Tôm or Nước Mắm Chấm) are must-haves; other toppings are optional.

• Dry rice vermicelli: use thin round rice vermicelli (“Bún” in Vietnamese)
• Medium-firm tofu: it’s the best to choose freshly-made tofu from Asian markets.
• Mắm Tôm (fermented shrimp paste) or Northern-style Nước Chấm (if you can’t handle mắm tôm)

This is how Hanoians traditionally prepare their Mắm Tôm.

• Mắm Tôm (Vietnamese Fermented Shimp Paste): opt for the Vietnamese brand and don’t confuse it with Mắm Ruốc (another kind of shrimp paste).
• Calamansi (the best choice) or lime / lemon / rice vinegar. Calamansi is also used to make Toyomansi , a popular Filippino dipping sauce for Siomai.
• Hot cooking oil and shallots: Shallot oil helps diminish the strong smell of Mắm Tôm and aids in cooking the sauce (if you are concerned that Mắm Tôm is not safe).
• Sugar
• Chili
• MSG (optional)

• The pickle: carrots, kohlrabi (or green papaya, cucumber), salt, sugar, and rice vinegar.
• The fish sauce: fish sauce, rice vinegar (or lemon / lime juice), sugar, garlic, chili, and black pepper powder.

Instructions

• Boil the dry noodles according to the instructions on the package. Drain the rice noodles (no rinse).
• Spread the drained noodles on a tray. You can determine how thick you want your noodle block to be.
• Next, place a plate or cutting board on top of the rice noodles, and add some weight (I use a pot filled with water). Let them sit for 30 minutes.
• Use a knife to cut the block of noodles into bite-sized parallelogram-shaped pieces.

• Cut the tofu into cubes.
• Fry the tofu cubes until they’re golden and crispy on the outside.

The traditional recipe calls for Chả Cốm (pork paste with young rice flakes), but Vietnamese ham is more easily found at Asian markets.

• Cut it into thin slices and fry them until they are crispy.

• Bring a pot of water to a boil, incorporating some shallots (or scallions, ginger, etc.) as aromatics to help eliminate the pork’s odor.
• Add the pork belly or pork trotter and simmer until there is no visible pink or red color when piercing the meat with a chopstick.
• Remove the meat from the pot and allow it to cool down completely.
• Thinly slice the pork.

Boiled pork belly is also a key ingredient in Gỏi Cuốn (Vietnamese fresh spring rolls).

• Prepare Nem Rán ahead; they can be frozen for months.
• Reheat the spring rolls by deep-frying or air-frying.
• Cut the spring rolls diagonally.

Note: Only use Hanoi-style spring rolls. Saigon-style spring rolls or egg rolls (chả giò) are not suitable.

• Arrange all the ingredients on a large platter: rice noodles, fried tofu, boiled pork, spring rolls, Vietnamese ham, herbs, and vegetables.
• Dip each item into the dipping sauce and enjoy!!

Helpful Tips

• Use freshly-made tofu from an Asian market for the best flavor.
• Use only Hanoi-style spring rolls; Saigon-style spring rolls / egg rolls (chả giò) are not suitable.
• If you can’t find authentic herbs like Vietnamese Balm and Vietnamese Perilla, mint and Thai basil are good alternatives.
• For Mắm Tôm dipping sauce, you can substitute calamansi juice with lime/lemon juice or rice vinegar.

More Authentic Vietnamese Recipes