Summary: Grilled marinated pork tenderloin slices and minced pork patties, served with rice noodles, herbs, pickled vegetables and a sweet-sour nước chấm dipping sauce. Total time 75 minutes, makes 6 servings.
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Category: Pork · Vietnamese Cuisine
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Quick overview
- Dish:
- Category: pork, vietnamese cuisine
- Cuisine: Vietnamese
- Main ingredient: Pork tenderloin, 900 g (sliced 5 mm across the grain)
- Guide: 12 most famous Vietnamese dishes: traditional recipes from Vietnamese cuisine
- Total time: 75 minutes (35 min preparation + 40 min cooking)
- Difficulty: Medium
- Servings: 6 (Serving weight: 619 g)
- Key technique: Double grilling on an outdoor barbecue and adjusting the nước chấm sauce to taste
- Preparation types: Grilling and roasting, pan-frying, pickling vegetables
- Dietary info & allergens: fish (fish sauce), soy (soy sauce), peanuts (roasted peanuts)
- Suitable for: Summer barbecues, dinner with friends, birthday celebrations and garden lunches.
- Nutritional values (per serving): 672 kcal, Protein: 34.4 g, Fat: 17.6 g, Carbohydrates: 88.8 g
- Storage: 2 days in the fridge, 1 month in the freezer
- Pairing: Vietnamese lager, dry Riesling, iced green tea
- In short: Grilled marinated pork tenderloin slices and minced pork patties, rice noodles, herbs, pickled vegetables and nước chấm sauce. Total time 75 minutes, 6 servings.
WAGUU says: “Bún Chả is not about the meat, but about the sauce. When the nước chấm is right, everyone dips their own meat and the dish holds together.”
Key facts
| Preparation time: | 35 minutes |
| Cooking time: | 40 minutes |
| Temperature: | Barbecue 230 °C over hot coals, griddle pan 220 °C |
| Number of servings: | 6 |
At a glance
Bún Chả consists of three parts that meet at the table: grilled meat, cold rice noodles and a bowl of nước chấm sauce for dipping the meat. The marinade with fish sauce and sugar is key, as is grilling the patties on an outdoor barbecue over coals. If you just fry the meat in a pan and stew it, you get stewed meat instead of a grilled flavour.
Ingredients
Base servings: 6 servings • Serving weight: 619 g
| Ingredient | Amount | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| pork tenderloin | 900 g | trimmed, sliced 5 mm across the grain |
| minced pork shoulder | 400 g | coarsely minced, 15 percent fat |
| rice noodles | 500 g | thin 2 mm, made from rice flour |
| fish sauce | 100 ml | fermented from anchovies, no sugar |
| soy sauce | 30 ml | dark, naturally fermented |
| caster sugar | 60 g | light, coarse |
| honey | 20 g | flower, runny |
| garlic | 6 cloves | fresh clove, finely chopped |
| shallot | 3 shallots | red, finely chopped |
| lemongrass | 2 stalks | fresh, only the lower white part |
| spring onion | 4 spring onions | fresh, both white and green parts |
| carrot | 2 carrot | firm, cut into thin matchsticks |
| daikon radish | 200 g | white, firm, cut into thin matchsticks |
| rice vinegar | 60 ml | mild, 4 percent acidity |
| lettuce | 150 g | crisp, leaves torn by hand |
| fresh coriander | 40 g | stem and leaf, no root |
| fresh mint | 20 g | fresh, leaves only |
| Thai basil | 20 g | fresh, leaves |
| roasted peanuts | 60 g | unsalted, coarsely crushed |
| fresh chilli | 3 chillies | red, thinly sliced into rings |
| lime | 2 lime | juicy, for juice and wedges |
| sunflower oil | 30 ml | neutral flavour, for brushing the barbecue |
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Two meat textures in one dish: Tenderloin slices stay juicy and minced pork patties get a crust. Mix and match at the table.
- The sauce takes two minutes: Nước chấm is mixed from fish sauce, sugar, lime and garlic. The ratio can be adjusted to taste – some like it more sour, others sweeter.
- Exact ratios for 6 servings: Meat, noodles, vegetables and sauce are calculated for six servings. The number of servings can be recalculated according to the diners.
Success rate: Bún Chả relies on two temperatures. Noodles and herbs are served cold, meat straight from the grill. When noodles are rinsed in cold water, they stay separate and don’t clump in the bowl. Minced meat patties should not be pressed too firmly, so they stay airy. The marinade with sugar and honey caramelises on the grill and creates a thin glossy crust that keeps the juices inside.
Recipe overview
Prep: 35 min | Cooking: 40 min | Difficulty: Medium | Servings: 6 | Type: Main course | Origin: Vietnamese
Detailed method
Overall method: 0 % done
Phase 1: Marinade and pickled vegetables – 25 min
Equipment: two bowls, grater, jar
1. Grate the carrot and daikon into thin matchsticks, mix with a tablespoon of sugar and leave to stand. Then squeeze out the liquid and cover with rice vinegar.
2. In a second bowl, mix fish sauce, soy sauce, honey, the rest of the sugar, chopped garlic, shallot and lemongrass. Divide the marinade into two parts.
3. Put the pork tenderloin slices into the first part of the marinade and mix with your hands. Add the minced meat with the chopped white part of the spring onion to the second part and work it in.
VKB: The meat slices are coated in marinade on all sides and the minced meat holds together but is not compacted into a tight mass. The vegetables are crunchy and free of excess water.
Before you move to the next step:
Do not knead the minced meat for too long, otherwise the patties will shrink and toughen during grilling. Just mix until it holds its shape.
Phase 2: Shaping the patties – 10 min
Equipment: chopping board, wet hands, tray
1. With wet hands, shape the minced meat into patties about six centimetres in diameter and one and a half centimetres thick. Place the patties on a tray in a single layer.
2. Chill the patties to firm up. Wet hands prevent the meat from sticking to your fingers and the patties from falling apart.
VKB: The patties are evenly sized, smooth on the surface and hold their shape when lifted on the palm without sagging.
Before you move to the next step:
Do not make the patties thicker than two centimetres. On the grill, the surface would burn before the meat is heated through.
Phase 3: Nước chấm sauce – 8 min
Equipment: small saucepan, bowl, whisk
1. Dissolve the remaining sugar in warm water, add fish sauce and lime juice. Stir until the sugar dissolves and the sauce is clear.
2. Add chopped garlic and chilli rings. Taste the sauce: first comes saltiness, then lime sourness, and finally sweetness. Adjust with whatever is missing.
VKB: The sauce is clear, amber and free of sugar grains. The aroma is fresh with lime and garlic, not fish sauce.
Before you move to the next step:
Do not prepare the sauce with garlic too far in advance. After an hour it turns bitter and loses its fresh taste. Add garlic and chilli at most half an hour before serving.
Phase 4: Grilling the meat slices – 10 min
Equipment: outdoor grill or griddle pan, tongs, tray
1. Oil the grill grate and heat it over hot coals until it starts to smoke. Place the pork tenderloin slices in a single layer and do not overlap them.
2. Grill the slices on both sides until dark amber. Use tongs to turn them so the juices stay in the meat. Put the cooked slices on a tray and cover.
VKB: The surface of the slices is glossy and caramelised, the meat is light when cut with no pink juices. When pressed with tongs, the slice is springy.
Before you move to the next step:
If flames flare up from the grill, the honey marinade is burnt. Push the coals to one side and grill over the heat, not over the flame.
Phase 5: Grilling the patties and blanching the noodles – 15 min
Equipment: grill, large saucepan, colander, bowl of cold water
1. Place the patties on the grill grate and cook on both sides until firm and dark on the surface. Turn them once during grilling, not more.
2. Cook the noodles in boiling water until soft, drain and rinse with cold water. Rinsed noodles do not stick together and stay cold, as they should.
VKB: The patties are firm to the touch and grey when cut with no pink juices. The noodles are cold, translucent and separate easily with your fingers.
Before you move to the next step:
Do not turn the patties repeatedly. Each turn releases juices, the meat dries out and the crust breaks.
Phase 6: Assembling the table and serving – 5 min
Equipment: large bowl, serving dishes, tray
1. Put the noodles in a large bowl, arrange torn lettuce, coriander, mint and basil alongside. Serve the pickled vegetables in a jar, peanuts in a small bowl.
2. Transfer the warm meat to a tray, pour the nước chấm sauce into wide bowls and place a patty in each. Guests dip the meat themselves and add noodles and herbs.
VKB: The meat is warm on the table, the noodles cold, the herbs fresh and the sauce clear. There are no pools of juice on the tray that would wash the herbs.
Required equipment
| Utensil | Ideal size | Alternative | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| outdoor grill | grate 45 x 30 cm, covered | griddle pan on the hob | without a lid the honey marinade catches fire and the meat becomes bitter |
| meat tongs | length 30 cm | two turners | a fork pierces the slices and juices run into the grill |
| large saucepan | capacity 5 l | two smaller saucepans and cook noodles in batches | in a small saucepan the noodles stick together because they have no room to spread out |
| wide sauce bowls | diameter 14 cm, depth 6 cm | deep plates | a narrow bowl does not allow the meat to be dipped whole, the sauce spills over |
Shopping list
Nutritional profile
Values per 1 serving (without side dish). Calculated from average nutritional values of ingredients.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 1 serving | For 6 servings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 456 kJ / 109 kcal | 2812 kJ / 672 kcal | 16871 kJ / 4032 kcal |
| Fat | 2.8 g | 17.6 g | 105.6 g |
| of which saturates | 7.1 g | 7.1 g | 7.1 g |
| Carbohydrate | 14.3 g | 88.8 g | 532.8 g |
| of which sugars | 9.2 g | 9.2 g | 9.2 g |
| Protein | 5.6 g | 34.4 g | 206.4 g |
| Salt | 3.2 g | 3.2 g | 3.2 g |
Reference intake of an average adult (8400 kJ / 2000 kcal).
WAGUU Pro level
- Pro standard: Tested recipe with precise ratios and visual checkpoints.
- Tip 1: Shape the patties with wet hands and chill them in the fridge. They hold their shape and won’t fall apart on the grill.
- Tip 2: Don’t overwork the minced meat. The longer you handle it, the firmer and tougher the patties become after grilling.
- Tip 3: Grill over embers, not flames. Put the charcoal on one side of the grill and the meat on the other; the marinade won’t burn.
- Tip 4: Rinse the noodles in cold water and keep them in a bowl covered with a damp cloth. They stay supple and won’t stick together for up to an hour.
The science behind it
Fish sauce contains free amino acids and salt, which together with the carbohydrates from sugar and honey form a brown, glossy layer on the meat surface above 150°C. This layer slows down water evaporation from the meat. Minced meat has a larger surface area than a slice, so proteins break down faster on the surface of the patties, creating a crust. Pickling vegetables in vinegar changes the pectins in the cell walls, so the vegetables soften only slightly and stay crunchy. Rinsing the noodles in cold water removes surface starch, so they don’t stick together in the bowl.
Fine Dining – Professional techniques
- Plate composition: Twirl the noodles into a low spiral in the centre of the bowl, fan the meat slices around the edge, and place the patty in the bowl with the sauce. Serve the herbs separately in a small glass.
- Texture contrasts: Add a few crispy fried shallots and thin cucumber slices to the peanuts. The crunchy layer balances the soft noodles and juicy meat.
- Temperature contrast: Keep the noodles and herbs in the fridge until the last moment. Hot meat and a cold side in one bite is the foundation of this dish’s flavour.
- Aromatic additions: Add a tablespoon of rice vinegar and a few drops of sesame oil to the sauce. The aroma opens up and the sauce gains depth.
Sensory radar
- Appearance: Dark amber meat slices, golden patties, white noodles, green herbs, orange carrot and red chilli in a clear sauce.
- Aroma: First grilled meat with honey, then fresh lime and coriander, finishing with garlic and chilli.
- Taste: Salty from fish sauce, sweet from sugar, sour from lime and hot from chilli. The flavours meet when you dip the meat into the sauce.
- Texture: Meat tender with a glossy crust, patties firm, noodles supple, vegetables crunchy and peanuts crumbly.
Pairings
- Vietnamese lager: A light pale beer with higher carbonation cleanses the palate from grilled meat. Serve it chilled to 6–8°C.
- Dry Riesling: The acidity in Riesling pairs with the lime in the sauce. Sweeter wines overpower the saltiness of the fish sauce.
- Iced green tea: Strong green tea with an ice cube and a mint leaf. The tea’s tannins refresh the mouth between bites.
Variations
Allergens and dietary information
Contains: fish (fish sauce), soy (soy sauce), peanuts (roasted peanuts) • Gluten: yes, trace amounts from soy sauce • Not suitable for: people with allergies to fish, soy, peanuts and gluten
Suitable for
Summer grilling, dinner with friends, birthday celebrations and garden lunches.
Substitution catalogue
- pork tenderloin: boneless pork collar or chicken thigh, grilling time increases
- minced pork shoulder: minced chicken or turkey, patties will be lighter and cook faster
- rice noodles: thin rice noodles or rice starch noodles, cooking time shortens
- daikon radish: white radish or kohlrabi, flavour will be milder
- fish sauce: soy sauce with a teaspoon of salt, flavour will be less pronounced
FAQ
How do you eat bún chả?
Use chopsticks to pick up some noodles, add a herb, and dip the meat into the sauce in the bowl. Eat it all in one bite; don’t pour the sauce over the noodles.
Why are my patties falling apart?
The minced meat was too wet, or you didn’t let it rest in the fridge. Add a tablespoon of rice flour and let the patties firm up a bit before grilling.
What sauce can I use instead of nước chấm?
The base is fish sauce, sugar and lime. If you don’t have fish sauce, use dark soy sauce with a tablespoon of vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar, but the flavour will be less pronounced.
Can I use a griddle pan instead of an outdoor grill?
Yes. Brush a hot cast-iron pan with oil and grill the slices in small batches. Open a window; the honey marinade smokes.
How much meat per portion?
Around one hundred and fifty grams of meat per portion, including slices and patty. Add a portion of noodles and a handful of herbs to complete the dish.
Can I prepare the noodles in advance?
Cook the noodles and rinse them in cold water no more than two hours ahead. Keep them covered with a damp cloth so they don’t dry out or stick.
WAGUU Petr advises: Cooking for 6 or more?
6–8 people: Marinate the meat an hour earlier and shape the patties in advance. Grill in batches and keep the cooked meat in a low oven. • 10+ people: Divide the meat into two halves and grill the second half when guests have finished the first. Cook noodles in batches and keep the rinsed ones in a bowl with ice. Mix the sauce in two bowls so everyone has one within reach.
Sides and serving
Serving: Bún chả is served as a spread on the table: a bowl of noodles, a platter of warm meat, a bowl of sauce for each diner, and a glass of pickled vegetables. Put the herbs in a tall glass with water; they’ll stay fresh.
Storage and reheating
Fridge: 2 days • Freezer: 1 month • Reheating: Reheat the meat in a pan or oven. Blanch the noodles in boiling water and rinse in cold water so they stay supple and don’t stick.
Author: WAGUU Petr & Team • Published: 9 Oct 2026 • Updated: 10 Oct 2026
More recipes from the article
Guide: 12 most famous Vietnamese dishes: traditional recipes from Vietnamese cuisine
Phở Bò – beef noodle soup with star anise, cinnamon and charred ginger
Phở Gà – chicken noodle soup with a delicate broth, star anise and fresh herbs
Bánh Mì – crispy Vietnamese baguette with meat, pâté and pickled vegetables
Gỏi Cuốn – fresh summer rolls in rice paper with prawns and herbs
Bún Bò Huế – spicy noodle soup from Hue with lemongrass and chilli
Cơm Tấm – broken rice with grilled pork, egg and fish sauce
Cao Lầu – Hoi An speciality with firm rice noodles and crispy chips
Bánh Xèo – crispy rice pancake with turmeric, prawns and bean sprouts
Chả Giò – fried Vietnamese spring rolls with meat, vegetables and noodles
Cá Kho Tộ – caramelised braised fish in a sweet-savoury sauce
Chè – Vietnamese sweet desserts with beans, tapioca and coconut milk
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Most common mistakes
- Grilling over flames – the honey marinade burns and the meat turns bitter. Put the charcoal on one side and grill over embers.
- Patties too thick – the surface burns before the meat is heated through. Keep the thickness to one and a half centimetres.
- Garlic sauce left standing for hours – garlic in the sauce turns bitter. Add it at most half an hour before serving.
- Unrinsed noodles – they stick together in a block and can’t be picked up with chopsticks. Rinse them in cold water.