Bún bò Huế: what’s in the bowl and how to eat it

Ask for bún bò Huế in Huế and you will get a smile. Here it is just bún bò: everyone knows where it comes from. It is a big, spicy, fragrant bowl, punchier than phở, and the city eats it for breakfast.

The broth

It starts with beef and pork bones, simmered for hours. Then come the two things that make it bún bò: bruised stalks of lemongrass (sả) and a spoonful of mắm ruốc, a fermented shrimp paste. The result is savoury, a little sweet and sharp with lemongrass, with a red, glossy layer of chilli oil on top. If the pot smells funky, that is the mắm ruốc. In the bowl it just tastes deep.

What’s in the bowl

• Bún: thick, round rice noodles, much fatter than the thin vermicelli of bún chả. Slippery, so use your chopsticks and spoon together.
• Bắp bò: beef shank, sliced thin, with a little chew.
• Giò heo: pork knuckle, a thick round slice with skin and bone. Hold it with your chopsticks and nibble around the bone.
• Chả: sometimes a slice of pork cake, or a soft crab cake (chả cua).
• Huyết: dark cubes of cooked pork blood. Soft and mild, a bit like firm tofu. Not for everyone: say “không huyết” and they stay in the pot.

On the side

• Bắp chuối: banana blossom, shaved into thin curls. Crunchy and a little bitter.
• Herbs and greens: a plate of whatever is fresh, sometimes with thin curls of water spinach stem.
• Lime and chilli: wedges of lime (chanh) and sliced fresh chilli.
• Sa tế: chilli oil, in a jar on the table. Huế likes it hot, and this is how.

How to eat it

1. Taste the broth before you add anything. In Huế it often arrives spicy already.
2. Squeeze in some lime, then add banana blossom and herbs a little at a time, so they stay crunchy.
3. Go easy with the sa tế. You can always add more; you can’t take it out.
4. Noodles with the chopsticks, broth with the spoon. Lean over the bowl; slurping is fine.

How to order

• “Cho tôi một tô bún bò.” One bowl of bún bò, please. In Huế, as in the south, a bowl is a tô.
• “Không huyết.” No blood.
• “Ít cay.” Just a little spicy. “Không cay.” Not spicy.
• “Thêm giò.” Extra pork knuckle.

When to go

Bún bò is breakfast. In Huế the stalls are busiest from early morning to mid-morning, and the best ones can sell out. Look for a big pot steaming on the pavement and a crowd on low stools. If you are planning your day around it, see Huế in a day.

Outside Huế

You will find bún bò Huế all over Việt Nam, under its full name. In Hà Nội, don’t mix it up with bún bò Nam Bộ: that is a different dish, rice noodles topped with stir-fried beef, herbs and peanuts, with a little sauce instead of a broth. For the rest of Huế’s food, from bánh bèo to cơm hến, read what to eat in Huế.

Try the spiciest one

Bún bò is a breakfast dish, with one exception. Our Royal Recipes, Home Dinner in Huế is a seven-course family dinner in a garden house, with dishes once made for the Nguyễn court: bánh bèo, nem lụi, and the spiciest bún bò you will find. You cook two dishes with the family, and we pick you up from your hotel.