Bun mam – rustic food in modern city

Bun Mam

Bun is one of the most popular dishes of Vietnam. Almost every area has a separate domain with its own characteristics. If North Vietnam has bun cha (fried fish paste noodle)and bun oc (shellfish noodle), Hue has bun bo (beef noodle) and bun thang (noodle served with mixture of pork, chicken, and pork paste) then the south has bun ca (fish noodle) and bun mam (fermented fish noodle).
Bun mam or noodle sauce is special for its soup made from fermented fish.

But the flavors do not win people over at first. In fact, most people do not like it the first time they try it. But eventually these same people come back again and again for more. Soups made from noodle sauce are cooked with coconut milk which sweetens the taste.

Noodle sauce is served with vegetables such as water lily together with aromic vegetables and seafood hot pot dishes of fish, shrimp and squid and beef. Eaten with a little lemon and a little pepper, the flavor is sour, sweet and spicy in your tongue. After a nice bowl of noodle sauce, a cup of lotus tea is the perfect chaser.

Noodle sauce is a southern dish and in HCMC there is a little restaurant specializing in noodle sauce and hot pot sauce called Vy Restaurant at 190/19 Su Van Hanh Street, District 5.
Source : The Saigon Times Online