Bun Oc Co Beo

For a long time, bun oc has be come a familiar dish and a favorite of many people because of its unique taste and distinct attractive color that no other dish could present. Hanoi people are in love with bun oc as a dish typical of their hometown’s character. The greasy and delicious freshwater snails are from West Lake, which taste the best in winter when they are grown enough and have a beautiful yellow color. For bun oc to taste good, everything from the freshwater snails, the spices, the herbs, to the accompanying rice vermicelli has to be chosen carefully. A good bowl of bun oc means that the stock tastes sweet but slightly sour – the sourness com- ing from dam bong (a type of glutinous rice vinegar), the rice vermicelli is soft but not crushed and the freshwater snails are nicely stir-fried and become soft and crunchy. The stock is made by simmering pork shank bones with the bubbles completely removed. The various season- Bun oc Ha Noi (Rice vermicelli soup with freshwater snails) 18 19 HANOI’S CUISINE HANOI’S CUISINE A delicacy from the countryside ings added to the stock includes tomatoes, dried gar- ciana cowa, dam bong, fat, pepper, MSG, salt, sugar, chilies… The delicious rice vermicelli comes from Phu Do village, Nam Tu Liem county. It is thin and soft, and after soaked in the stock, is not crushed easily. Some sellers even use the rice vermicelli made from Hai Hau rice and glutinous rice for a better taste of the dish. The herbs used are lettuce, water mint, perilla, Vietnamese Balm, coriander and thinly sliced banana stems. An even more special feature of the dish is the chili sauce in which the tiny chili seeds can be seen in the dark red viscous sub- stance. Having a hot bowl of bun oc, customers can taste the sweet stock, the soft rice vermicelli, the crunchy freshwater snails, the spicy chilies and, at the same time, the cooling herbs, which come together and create a wonderful flavor.