AI-generated image
Bún mắm
Fermented fish noodle soup
Bún mắm: rice noodles in a deep fermented-fish broth with prawns, squid, pork belly and aubergine
Vạn Kiếp Street in Saigon's Bình Thạnh district is lined with stalls serving bún mắm, a noodle soup that came up the river from the Mekong Delta. The broth is built on mắm cá linh or mắm cá sặc, small river fish fermented with salt, simmered until the bones dissolve and strained into a dark, savoury, lemongrass-scented stock. It is loaded with prawns, squid, white fish, slices of boiled pork belly and soft aubergine, and eaten with a mountain of herbs and bean sprouts. Look for jars of mắm at Vietnamese grocers. Chef's tip: strain the fermented fish through a fine sieve, pressing hard; tiny bones make the broth gritty.
- Total time
- 95 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the broth
- 10 ½ cups water
- 10 ½ oz pork belly
- 4 stalks lemongrass2 bruised, 2 finely chopped
- 4 shallotschopped
- 4 cloves garlicchopped
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
For the seafood and vegetables
- 2 Asian auberginescut into chunks
- 10 ½ oz firm white fish filletcut into chunks
- 10 ½ oz raw prawnspeeled, tails on
- 10 ½ oz squidcleaned and cut into rings
To serve
- 1 ⅛ lb rice vermicelli
- 7 oz bean sprouts
- 2 red chillies (optional)sliced
- 1 lime (optional)wedges
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Fresh ingredients (10)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Simmer 5 ½ oz fermented fish (mắm cá linh or mắm cá sặc) in 1 litre of the 10 ½ cups water for 15 minutes, until the fish falls apart. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing hard, and discard the bones. Common mistake: skipping the fine sieve, which leaves bones in the broth.
18 minStep 2: Put 10 ½ oz pork belly in a pan with the rest of the water and simmer for 20–25 minutes, until firm and cooked through to 160°F. Lift out, slice thinly and keep the cooking liquid.
25 minStep 3: Combine the strained fish liquid, the pork cooking liquid and the bruised 4 stalks lemongrass in a large pot and simmer for 15 minutes.
15 minStep 4: Fry 4 shallots, 4 cloves garlic and the chopped lemongrass in 2 tbsp vegetable oil over a medium heat for 3 minutes, until fragrant and golden, and stir into the broth. Season with 2 tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp fish sauce.
4 minStep 5: Add 2 Asian aubergines and simmer for 5 minutes, until soft.
5 minStep 6: Buy seafood very fresh and keep it chilled until cooking; throw away any prawns or squid that smell of ammonia or feel slimy. Add 10 ½ oz firm white fish fillet and simmer for 4 minutes, until opaque and flaking. Add 10 ½ oz raw prawns for 2–3 minutes, until pink and opaque, then 10 ½ oz squid for 1 minute, until white.
8 minStep 7: Cook 1 ⅛ lb rice vermicelli following the packet and drain. Fill bowls with noodles, pork slices and seafood, ladle over the hot broth and serve with 7 oz bean sprouts, 1 bunch mixed herbs (Thai basil, mint, sawtooth coriander), 2 red chillies and 1 lime.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 580 kcal
- Protein
- 42 g
- Carbs
- 72 g
- Fat
- 13 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does bún mắm take?
- About 95 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 65 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of shallots?
- Half an onion per 2 shallots.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Tiyula itumBlack beef soup
Tiyula itum, 'black soup', is the pride of the Tausug people of Sulu in the far south of the Philippines, cooked for weddings, Eid celebrations and when guests come home. Beef (it is a halal, pork-free dish) is simmered with ginger, lemongrass and turmeric, then darkened with pamapa itum, a paste of grated coconut toasted until almost black and pounded with spices. The broth looks dramatic but tastes smoky, earthy and gently peppery, with heat from chillies. Serve it with plain rice. Chef's tip: toast the coconut slowly, stirring all the time, until it is very dark brown but not ashy; burnt-to-ash coconut tastes bitter and ruins the soup.
Filipino
Ful nabitSprouted fava bean soup
Sprouted beans are ladled out with their cooking liquor in Cairo homes when the weather turns cold or someone is feeling run down, and Egyptians swear by the broth as a pick-me-up. The beans are soaked and left to sprout for a few days, then simmered with onion, garlic and cumin into a light, earthy soup that is sharpened at the table with plenty of lemon. You can eat the beans with a spoon or pop them from their skins. Allow 3 to 4 days for sprouting, although the hands-on work is only about 20 minutes. People with G6PD deficiency (favism) must not eat fava beans. Chef's tip: stop the sprouting when the shoots are about 1 cm long; longer sprouts taste grassy and bitter.
Egyptian
Miso soup
Miso soup (味噌汁) is drunk every day in homes all over Japan, at breakfast as well as dinner, beside a bowl of rice. The base is dashi; this vegan version uses kombu and dried shiitake instead of bonito, which gives it a deep, rounded flavour. Silken tofu and wakame seaweed are the classic fillings. It takes ten minutes; just remember not to boil the miso. Chef's tip: add the miso at the very end and never let it boil. Boiling kills the miso's fresh, fermented aroma; Japanese cooks say the soup should only 'smile', with the surface barely trembling.
Japanese