Bún Chả

Bún chả is grilled pork patties and pork belly slices dropped into a bowl of sweet-tart dipping broth, served with cold rice vermicelli and a plate of herbs alongside. It's Hanoi's defining lunch dish, built the opposite way round from a bowl of phở: the noodles here stay cold and separate, and it's the diner who dunks each bite into the warm, diluted nước chấm rather than everything arriving already combined.

What it really is

Pork shoulder cut into thin slices and minced pork shaped into small patties both marinate briefly, then grill over charcoal until the edges char and the fat renders — that smoky char is the whole point, and it's what separates bún chả from any other Vietnamese pork-and-noodle plate. The grilled meat goes straight into a bowl of warm nước chấm, a thin broth of fish sauce, sugar, lime and garlic with a few slices of pickled green papaya or carrot floating in it. Cold rice vermicelli and a plate of lettuce, mint and perilla sit alongside, and the diner assembles each mouthful themselves — a bit of noodle and herb, dipped into the broth to pick up meat and flavour together.

Cold noodles meeting hot dipping broth, not the two combined in one bowl, is what makes it bún chả rather than a bowl of soup with grilled pork on top. The temperature and texture contrast between the two is deliberate and part of the dish's whole appeal, not an accident of how it happens to be served.

How it's served

• The grilled pork arrives in its warm dipping broth; cold noodles and a herb plate sit in separate bowls alongside.
• Diners assemble their own bite: noodle and herb dipped into the broth to pick up meat.
• Traditionally a midday meal in Hanoi, though it's now served at any hour.

How to write it on the menu

• Flag the fish sauce in the dipping broth.
• Say whether the pork is patty, sliced belly, or both, since some kitchens serve only one.
• Note that the noodles and herbs are meant to be dipped, not poured over, so a guest unfamiliar with the format knows what to do with it.