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The Best Way To Cook Homemade Bun Cha For Restaurant-Worthy Flavors

Bun cha is just one of many Vietnamese specialities that aren't pho. The dish, comprised of pork meat balls, rice noodles, herbs, and a dipping sauce, was one of the late Anthony Bourdain's favorites — one that he passed on to U.S. President, Barack Obama, after the two shared a meal at Hanoi's now infamous family-run restaurant, Bun Cha Huong Lien, while shooting the eighth season of "CNN: Parts Unknown." The restaurant now appears in the Michelin guide, as a Michelin-recommended place to eat, so everyone might not have the pull to sit down there today, nor the time or funds for a round-trip ticket to Vietnam. But there is what many might consider to be the next best thing, right in Washington, D.C.: Moon Rabbit. Even better, you have the 5-time James Beard semifinalist and 2024 Best Chef Mid-Atlantic finalist behind it, chef Kevin Tien, to tell you the best way to cook homemade bun cha at home for restaurant-worthy flavors.

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A large plate of bun cha Hanoi serving 2-4 people will run you $89 at Moon Rabbit, but chef Kevin Tien's advice for making it at home is worth listening to. When Tasting Table asked him the best way to prepare the pork meatballs for flavors that rival those you'd get sitting down at a restaurant, he said, "If you are able to, grill it over charcoal to get nice smoky flavors." When it comes to bun cha, that smokiness is essential.

Smoky bun cha or no bun cha

Should you ever eat bun cha in Hanoi, the odds are that it will be cooked on a charcoal grill. If you get a peek at the kitchen, you'll see the cooks using one hand to constantly flip the metal grill basket filled with meatballs over a charcoal fire, while using their other hand to fan the flame. This process is what allows them to get the char just right — but it's also what so memorably fills the streets of Hanoi with bun cha's savory aromas. While you might not have the finesse of a Hanoi-based bun cha grill master, you can create a similar effect using your charcoal grill at home.

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After you've marinated your ground pork and formed meatballs, which are usually a mix of pork, garlic, sugar, nuoc cham, salt, pepper, and scallions, preheat your grill and arrange the coals so that they create an indirect heat – in other words, pile all of the coals on one side of the grill. You can either cook your bun cha directly on the grill, on the opposite side of where you placed the coals, or you can get yourself a metal grilling basket from Amazon for $23.99 and cook them in that, flipping them around constantly until they're cooked fully through. If you're not going the grill basket route, that time on the grill is when to chop your herbs and prepare your sauce, just make sure you have a bottle of nuoc cham in your pantry first.

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