Bun Cha: Hanoi Grilled Pork with Noodles

Soak Rice vermicelli in plenty of cold water until they are pliable but still firm, at least 30 min. Do not use hot water or they turn to paste.

⚠ Tip: If you are short on time, pour boiling water over them for 3 min, drain, then rinse under cold water until completely cool.

Toss the julienned Green papaya and Carrots with 4 tbsp Rice vinegar, 2 tbsp Sugar and 4 tbsp Water. Leave to soften and sour while you do everything else — at least 20 min.

⚠ Tip: Taste one piece: it should be sharp and only lightly sweet. Add a splash more vinegar if your papaya is bland.

Cut the Pork belly across the grain into thin slices, about 3 cm thick. Keep the Minced pork coarse — if your butcher minced it fine, break it up with your fingers rather than pulsing it further.

⚠ Tip: Slightly frozen belly slices cleanly; 15 min in the freezer makes it much easier.

Pound or finely chop the Shallots and Garlic, then work them into both porks with Vietnamese fish sauce, Sugar and Ground black pepper. If using the optional Fish sauce, splash it over the belly slices only. Massage with your hands until the meat feels sticky and every piece is coated, then cover and rest for 30 min.

⚠ Tip: The sugar and fish sauce will pull liquid out of the meat — that is what you want. A longer rest up to overnight gives deeper flavour.

Warm 300 ml Water with 3 tbsp Sugar just until the sugar dissolves, then take it off the heat. Whisk in 4 tbsp Vietnamese fish sauce and the juice of the Limes. It should taste salty first, then sour, then faintly sweet — adjust until it does.

⚠ Tip: Never boil the fish sauce: heat kills its aroma. Warm the water separately, then add the sauce off the heat.

Thinly slice the Garlic and the Red chillies. Scatter both into the warm dipping broth — the chilli should be visible, floating and sharp.

⚠ Tip: Use a bird's eye chilli if you want real heat; a spur chilli gives colour and a gentler bite.

Wet your hands and shape the marinated mince into small, flattened patties about 7 cm across and 2 cm thick. Press a shallow dimple in the middle of each — it keeps them flat on the grill. Lay them on a tray with the belly slices.

⚠ Tip: Small and flat beats big and thick: maximum char, minimum raw middle.

Get the grill very hot or set a grill pan over high heat until it just begins to smoke. Grill the belly slices and patties until deeply charred at the edges and cooked through, 3 min–4 min per side for the belly, a little less for the patties. Turn only once; let them catch and blacken in places.

⚠ Tip: Bun cha should be smoky and slightly burnt at the edges. A timid grill makes grey, sweet pork — push the heat.

Drain the soaked Rice vermicelli and rinse them under cold running water, then drain very well — wet noodles dilute the broth. Leave them in a colander while the meat grills.

Wash and dry the Mixed salad leaves — lettuce, mint, coriander and perilla if you have it — and pile on a plate with the batons of Spring onions and the sliced Cucumber. This plate is not decoration; you eat it by the fistful.

⚠ Tip: Perilla (tía tô) is the one herb that makes bun cha taste like bun cha. If you can find it, use plenty.

Divide the pickled papaya and carrot between four deep bowls, add a spoonful of its vinegar, then ladle the dipping broth over. Lay the grilled pork on top so it warm the broth and its juices run down into it. Serve the noodles and the herb plate alongside.

⚠ Tip: The broth is twice the point of the dish — it must be salty-sour and aromatic, and it must be warm, not hot. If it is cold, the pork's fat sets and the bowl turns dull.

To eat: dunk a bundle of noodles into the broth, grab herbs with it, and take a bite of pork with every second mouthful. Keep adding noodles and herbs to the broth as you go, and finish by drinking what is left.

Serve immediately, while the pork is still hot and the noodles are cool — that contrast is the whole dish. Do not let anything sit: the noodles dry, the broth cools, and the smoke fades.