Bún thịt nướng – Vietnamese grilled lemongrass pork with rice vermicelli noodles
(Bún = rice vermicelli noodles, thịt = meat, nướng = grilled)
I want to clarify one thing you wouldn’t glean from reading my blog: I don’t cook, hence my blog will never turn into a food and recipe blog, but I love sharing mouth-watering photos of food. Nevertheless, I admire my mom’s amazing culinary skills and the magic touch she adds to the Vietnamese cuisine. It is said that all Vietnamese women are, regardless, really good at cooking, so I hope my mom’s cooking skills will rub off on me sooner or later.
Whenever you ask a Vietnamese lady where to get the best and most authentic Vietnamese food, she will most likely answer her kitchen – which is, incidentally, true. Anyhow, my mom never uses recipes so I can’t share any culinary secrets with you, unfortunately. If you want to recreate the dishes I showcase on my blog, you can always google them. The photo above includes yesterday’s terrific dinner and this post provides more details on this healthy dish, which makes the perfect summery salad. (+ A glass of Les Abeilles Côtes du Rhône will enhance the flavor). The barbecued meat, pickled vegetables and fresh herbs can also act as an exquisite filling for Vietnamese sandwiches, famously known as ‘bánh mì’. Speaking of which, I’m utterly obsessed with bánh mì.
PS: The key ingredient is lemongrass! The meat in the photo may look like char siu pork.
OMG I love posts like this one! Please continue sharing photos of Vietnamese food.. no wonder you Vietnamese people are so slender, the food is so healthy and low fat!
I love this new direction of food and style! It's becoming more of a lifestyle blog instead of one-dimensional regurgitation of fashion posts (not that it ever was, but it's nice to have variety =D)
yeah, we could google them, but wouldn't it be kind of awesome if you got them from your mom and shared the home cooking secrets with us? maybe not awesome for you, but for us…http://nomadic-d.blogspot.com/
This looks delicious. I can never help sneaking food pictures and half-hidden links to recipes in my blog posts – cooking is an enormous part of who I am and how I grew up. At home, food is love (and the ultimate expression of love is a soft-boiled egg and soldiers). I think clothes and food are very closely related – it's important to me that I can eat a bowl of muesli in all my clothes without feeling silly. In a nutshell, I like your current posts very much.
- Ida: Haha, thank you! Not all Vietnamese people are slender, especially if they live in Europe or America where one have infinite access to fast and excessively unhealthy food, lol. Truth be told, I rarely encounter skinny Vietnamese.- Amanda: Thank you dear! Haha, I like this new direction as well even though my blog is no longer a niche blog. I wonder how I can add other topics like music (as a musician, music really is a big part of my life!) and movies to my blog.- Nomadic D: Haha, the problem is that my mom doesn't use recipes! :-( But she's more than willing to share the ingredients she uses, she's very enthusiastic about my food blogging (not that she reads my blog, I'd never let her to that, lol!). – Kate: Ooh, i totally agree with you. Food is love, no doubt. I always eat dinner with my family (apart from when I'm not home) and breakfast with my family on the weekends is obligatory. And thank you! Love reading your comments, Kate!
That looks sooo delicious! I live across the street from a Vietnamese restaurant and a deli that makes an excellent bánh mi. It's both a blessing and a curse to be so close to delicious food. :)
- jennifer: Ahh, bánh mì in the states is like an epidemic! It's one of the reasons why I want to travel to NYC; to try out all the bánh mì delis in the city!
omg, you made my mouth watering girl! Vietnamese foood is simply the best!
btw, is that meat kind of meat i was thinking of? It's kinda pink-ish or something right?
LUU H.: You mean http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Char_siu ? No, it's lemongrass barbecued pork!
yumm!!
oh, that looks so delicious! especially after all the junk food I had the last week or so…I love how your blog is turning more into a lifestyle blog!
I love banh mi! That looks so very good too! Same here for posting beautiful photos except I can't cook at all. Bon appetit!
yum, that looks delicious!chicdisplay.blogspot.com
That looks so scrumptious.
I really love you blog. It's one of my favourites and i like that you've been posting more, lately.But honestly, i don't really like to see a post like this.It's because of the meat.I'm not being intolerant or anything, you seem like an increbly intelligent person, but meat really is nothing more than murder and believe me, i'm not a vegetarian because i don't like the taste of meat, i'm sure i'd really enjoy said meal, but i wouldn't because it's just not right.Please don't feel affronted by that, but honestly, how could it be right to kill an animal, just to eat it? The tremendous amount of vegetarian food given, it's a rather ridiculous thought to kill them.I'm quite sure, i don't have to add a link to a video about meat 'production', right?I wasn't really sure about wrinting this, because it's likely to misunderstand it, again: i'm not meaning to offend you.
oops lots of spelling mistakes, i'm sorry, hope you still get what i mean. it's just to late to write properly. :)
wow, that looks extremely delicious. I know you said your mom doesn't use recipes, but I'd really love to know how the pork is prepared!
Thanks for the comments!- ani: First, a thank you for the comment and sharing your thoughts. Second, as much as I respect your opinion on the meat industry, I believe people are different and people have their reasons for choosing meat over a vegetarian lifestyle + the world is more nuanced than that. I didn't presume that my post would offend anyone, anyhow. I am by no means going to justify why I eat meat.. all I can say, it's in our nature. Humans are animals. Even other animals kill each other for food. I've seen lots of vegetarian propaganda and while I agree that some of the videos are gruesome, alas animal rights isn't a matter close to my heart. That said, I hope you respect that people eat meat as much as I respect your choice of lifestyle. A meat-eater rarely wins an argument with a vegan, but to be honest it's not on my agenda to win one either. (Btw, just so you know, becoming a vegan or remaining a meat-eater has nothing to do with intelligence!)- S: Many thanks! My mom is sleeping right now so I can't ask, but she prepared the pork with lemongrass, sesame oil, teriyaki sauce (lol, she has a thing for teriyaki sauce but you can use soya sauce) and probably garlic, salt, pepper + sugar and perhaps something else. I'm going to ask her tomorrow! Btw, according to some recipes, you can also add caramel sauce.. (oh caramelized meat or scampi… yum!).
I love this! Cajun food is exactly the same way. The best place to find it is in the home. I've always wanted to try Vietnamese because it looks so good but there aren't many places where I'm from. On another note, your blog has inspired me to not get pulled into consumerism and find quality clothing! Your blog is so refreshing from the sea of other blogs!
my goodness, this is making me hungry! it really looks wonderful. i don't have many opportunities to eat vietnamese food but the times i have made me very happy indeed. i'll bet your mom's culinary skills rub off on you. why not give it a try? :)
Ahhh this makes me wish i went with my boyfriend to get Vietnamese food! I cook a lot of French food but I don't touch Asian food in my kitchen, because I know I can never surpass my mother haha. I feel like Asian food requires the development of certain sensibilities that don't necessarily develop when you learn to cook Western food (maybe that's why Iron Chef Italian sticks to Italian food?). A lot of what puts me off when I cook Asian food is the fine chopping because I don't have a lot of 刀工, or 'knife skill,' and I just don't know how individual Asian ingredients necessarily taste or react (for example, I always know how much salt is too much–but me + soy sauce = disaster). Hopefully one day mom will teach me so I can make dumplings even when I'm far away from home! As for now…well, my dad just drove down to give me a bunch of food my mom prepared haha.
I looooooove bun! Unfortunately since I'm not Vietnamese, I go to a nearby ma & pa Vietnamese restaurant for my fix. Does your mom add spring rolls?
"animal rights isn't a matter close to my heart" wow, you're cold.
Fleurette, though I am an avid reader of your blog I have never felt compelled to post a comment until now…..much less doing so on the least comfortable device for me to type on…my iPhone. But I'm quite displeased right now. Ani's comment was so completely inappropriate and rude that I was floored. I'm very proud of your response. Your blog is lighthearted and entertaining and there are plenty silent readers like myself who appreciate the time that you take to do this.
It's impossible to win an argument with a vegan. I found that so funny but oh! so true. Actually I can't win an arguement with anyone but I've long ago stopped explaining or asking permission for my choices.
@Anonymous above angie: how can you consider Ani's comment inappropriate? she didn't call out names or the like and repeatedly stated that she didn't intend to offend her. it is normal that one's lifestyle clashes with someone else's but that doesn't necessarily translate into disrespecting one another.Anyways Fleurette, the Vietnamese kitchen reminds me of the Filipino food I regularly ate during my stay with my relatives. Actually, it was one of the first things I said when I got back home "GOD, I miss the food' haha.
This looks amazing, I love Vietnamese food. p.s. Liking the food addition to your blog
On a cold rainy day, I love a bowl of hot pho. I think the lemongrass makes everything so much more delicious and lifts you up. And always a few Vietnamese egg rolls!
Now, in addition to inspiring my wardrobe, you're influencing my diet. I craved Bun Ga Nuong all last night!
- Hannah: Thank you very much! You have to try Vietnamese one day. The food is so delicious, tasty and extremely healthy. – style odyssey: You live in Texas, right? I've been to Texas twice and there are loads of Vietnamese people living in Houston (and Austin, I think?) so you'll find tons of Vietnamese restaurants there. – 0000: Hahaha, I can absolutely relate to your problem. "I feel like Asian food requires the development of certain sensibilities that don't necessarily develop when you learn to cook Western food", oh, you're so right. I believe it's the awareness of seasoning. That's why my mom doesn't use recipes (or Vietnamese people in general).- Isabella: Ooh, we didn't make spring rolls for the bún, but some of the Vietnamese restaurants I frequent add spring rolls. Anyhow, it's healthier without spring rolls :p haha! Oh, last weekend we ate bún chả giò (bun with spring rolls).- Anonymous: Lol, says who? That's BS! Perhaps I wasn't clear, but what I intended to say is that there are lots of other problems in the world that I care more about, that stand closer to my heart than animal rights (ehh fyi I have a dog). Just because I'm not an animal activist doesn't mean I'm cold. LOL.- Anonymous: Thank you very much for the kind comment. Anyway, I disagree with you. I didn't find that comment inappropriate or rude at all :P I appreciate that she shared her personal opinions, but her comment won't change what I choose to consume.- angie: Good to hear that I'm not the only one. I'm not fond of discussions and or arguments as I never win, they only stress me out and make everything so hard to articulate. Oh well.. – I am your lung: Ooh, how is the Filipino cuisine? I know it's somewhat similar to Vietnamese/Thai/Chinese.- talisa: Thank you ^^- L.L.: I love a bowl of hot pho any time!! :-D – Lime Street: Ooh, I never thought I'd influence anyone's diet!!
ça à l'air délicieux !!! http://unechicfille.blogspot.com/2011/04/lexperience-dead-flower.htmlJe suis contente de voir que tu inspires la blogosphère!Bise!Louise
Yes, the Filipino kitchen picked up a lot of influences during history. I especially like the spring rolls, the dish called adobo, sinigang, fish and squid balls and leche flan! Now I want to go back just to eat all of these dishes :p
I love this new direction of your blog, very inspiring! I live around the corner from a great Vietnamese restaurant, they have the most delicious Goi Cuon and my favourite soup, Canh chua tom. 'm getting hungry!
halla
Beautiful dinner! Lovely to look at and delicious too.
Yum. I spent two weeks in Vietnam in 2008 and I still miss the food – Singapore has Vietnamese food but they lack the zing of the food prepared in Vietnam with all the right spices. I wish I was good enough a cook to recreate some of this stuff!
i love this!!
but honestly, not eating animals doesn't make me an activist either. i don't love animals, just how i don't love people. but that doesn't mean that i have to eat them. and i personally don't get how you can have a dog, but still eat a pig (they are a lot more intelligent than dogs!). but honestly, i know that i won't change anyone and i'm not even trying to, i just felt that i had to state my opinion and i'm glad that you didn't find it rude, because i didn't intend to be rude. :)
^Please don't turn this into an animal discussion. Let people do whatever they want to, you can tell other dog owners to stop eating pork but please don't educate me. It's possible to have pets AND still eat meat, everything doesn't have to be frickin' black and white, non?? :-) Did you know that almost every living creature on this planet eat and kill animals? Even vegans kill ants – they are precious and intelligent as well, aren't they?
Ani is trolling (or a bit slow)-she can't expect to make a comment like that and have it be taken seriously. Dear fellow veggies: most people eat meat, and one comment posted on the internet will not change this fact! As for a vegetarian version of this dish: sauted lemongrass tofu is actually quite delicious. I am vegetarian, when I don't eat veggie recipies I swap the meat for a mock-meat, leave it out or add my own protein replacement like beans.
^Sauted lemongrass tofu is ridiculously delicious! We often eat tofu as well, and yes, it's easy to just swap the meat for tofu :-) In fact, I prefer tofu over meat. Yum!
This looks amazing!! I really enjoy the new combination of fashion & food in your blog, very inspiring! Jane
oooh, the noodles look absolutely delicious! everytime i go to vietnam i try to get my hands on bun cha. the noodles in vietnam are different from anything you find in the rest of asia. somehow they taste a lot fresher – waaaay better. i am missing those noodles now…
This looks so good – definitely one of my favorite dishes. I am lucky enough to live close to a Vietnamese restaurant in the summer. I could eat this everyday for lunch. What does your mom put in the sauce? I really wish I could make this myself when I'm away at school.