How to Make Hanoi Style Vermicelli Noodles with Grilled Pork Bun Cha Hanoi

slow and low bun cha the Capitol’sendless twists on white slender ricenoodles in 1960 boob Aang dedicated anentire chapter of Hanoi delicacies tothe town’s special relationship with bunpronounced boom a noodle the world atlarge likely knew nothing about this isone dish that truly belongs to Hanoi hewrote in his seminal book on cuisine inthe capital I can’t imagine a singleVietnamese has ever passed up much lessdisliked a meal based in bun the oftemployed translation rice vermicellifails to impart the versatility of thisdynamic noodle which you may findswimming in snail soup holding togetherspring rolls or hiding semi fermentedbelow piles of grilled meat and herbs atone point wise Hanoi cooks chopped Tetleftovers into an attractive male lunchfor a final feast they called bun thingbun is all things to all people inVietnam but the world knows it best aslunch off in the early 20th century bangtells us peddlers from Hanoi outskirtsdragged shoulder pills into the oldquarter to set up portable barbecuestands Liu bang said the aroma of porkgrilling over tiny charcoal fireswrapped at every door in theneighborhood drawing men out into thestreet to spot around the vendorsawaiting piles of bun quivering onbanana leaves accompanied by lettucecilantro and most importantly a bowl ofgrilled pork chow in this instanceswimming in fish sauce in the myriadefforts to draw the men home home cooksproduced failure piles of pink meatballs and charred belly slices to saveface some generated rumors that thestreet cooks were sneakily insulatingthe pork with dog fatafter tireless taste tests bhangconcluded that the trick lay and slowgrilling the meat between thin bamboosticks over small charcoal fires fend intin biscuit boxes bang Furyk wanted aspot in an alley off dongs one marketthat still draws bun cha junkies todaybut the dish remains remarkable onlyinsofar as they serve their meat withfresh chopped leaves a rare herb oncebelieved to assuage bronchitis andasthma bun cha with chop the leavesthere isn’t an outstanding bunch hostelin Hanoi Bank included back in the 60snot because they aren’t doing a greatjob but indeed because everyone isnearly equally good for bang it was allabout the methodchef knew yin Phuong hai an expert ontraditional Hanoi cuisine confirmed thatthe technique bang describes oncereigned in the capital you take chop offthe bamboo sticks toss it in the sauceand start eating he said a nice bunch ahmust be rich with the smell of pork fishsauce spring onions and pepper the bowlmust not be too big cha must not smellsmoky grilling cha with bamboo sticksbut time and demand have replaced thefinicky process with charcoal firessupercharged by electric fans intendedby teenagers who flip their way throughstacks of metal screens stuffed with asmuch meat as possible once finished theyoften unceremoniously dumped thefinished product into a waiting bowl ofblended fish sauce our stall is jammedfrom 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. we can’t keep ourguests waiting with those bamboo stickssaid to it the owner of a popular 30year old stall on hangmen Street the buncha business is indeed booming since abrief and seemingly life-changing visitfrom US President Barack Obama bon chahua lien has expanded its business hoursto accommodate throngs ofcustomers hoping to dig into Americansized portions of meat or simplyphotograph themselves standing next tothe blue plastic stool once graced bythe first derriere the capital remainsdivided about whether the who onlymerits the hype most just patronized theone closest to home bang wrote hischapter on bunch as a nostalgic spitetrapped in Saigon and so he might findit ironic that a Hanoi family maintainshis favorite grill technique in alley173 of new yen theme than Chi in Ho ChiMinh City’s district 1 now in theirsecond generation of ownership everyorder at bun cha Jo Hanoi getsmeticulously grilled between sticks ofbamboo just after you order it you orderitwe are throwing out the best bit of anavocado and it’s a nutrient goldmine itis so very satisfying to slide a spooninto the flesh of a perfectly ripeavocado but a new study has discoveredthat it’s not the only part of the fruitwe should be excited about the mostunderappreciated part of an avocado thebit we tuck into the bin could in factprovide us with a goldmine of powerfuland protective nutrients in fact afirst-of-its-kind study from theUniversity of Texas Rio Grande Valleydiscovered that the husks are packedwith molecules that can treat diseasesand improve consumer products nearly 5million tons of avocados are producedworldwide annually and researcherswanted to find out what we were reallythrowing away each time a seed was bentwhile the benefits of avocados are welldocumented and some seeds are pressedfor their oil the husk the outer layerof the seed will usually be thrown awaydabassisst banjo pat heyo a chemist atthe University of Texas Rio GrandeValley found more than 130 differentcompounds in the husks oil and wax itcould very well be that avocado seedhusks which most people consider as thewaste of wastes are actually the gem ofgems because the medicinal compoundswithin them could eventually be used totreat cancer heart disease and otherconditions said banjo Pat hi oh how tobecome an avocado whisperer and find theperfect AVO every time ever Cardos are anutritious treasure trove of healthyfats fiber and vitamins that can beadded to just about any meal but theyare also hideously expensive which iswhy it’s so devastating to spend fivedollars on one only to cut it open anddiscover it’s flesh is a dismal zombiegray or wasted because you tried to eatthe hard fruit before it was ripeluckily you only need to know a fewsimple tricks to become an avocadowhisperer and the envy of your friendschoose wiselysupermarket avocados are mostly likelyto be the house variety named afterRudolf Hess the u.s. postman who firstcultivated them they are the ones withthe lumpy pebbled skin that makes yousee why the AVO is nicknamed thealligator pair most of the advice hereis about Hass avocados FYI dot accordingto avocados Australia a house is atoptimum ripeness when its skin ispurplish black and it feels soft whenyou squeeze it in your palm soft is goodsquidgy is bad that probably means it’stoo ripe dot don’t squeeze too hard oryou’ll bruise the fruit you can also geta sneak peak inside an avocado bypeeling back its stem that cutely illbutton at its narrow end if the stempops out easily and there’s healthygreen flesh inside that Evo is good togo if the stem resists it needs a littlemore time to ripen Hass avocados accountfor 80% of Australia’s avocados the nextmost common variety is is the Sheppardavocado to make things confusing aSheppard’s skin doesn’t go darker as itripens it stays the same shade of brightgreen but you can still rely on thesoftness test to judge whether it’s riped.i.y ripening left in a fruit bowl on akitchen bench top most uncut avocadoswill ripen within two to three days ifyou want to ripen your avocado fasterexpose it to ethylene gas before you cutit open you don’t need a chemistrydegree to do this just pop your arrow ina brown paper bag with a banana bananasnaturally release ethylene as they ripenmicrowaving for 10 seconds is anotheruntested suggestion for softening up anavocado so what do you do if you cutopen and ever car door early only tofind it’s still too hard to eataside from collapse to the floor intearsthe Hass avocado board recommendssprinkling the exposed flesh with lemonor lime juice placing the two halvesback together and covering them tightlywith plastic wrap then putting it backin the fridge your avocados might end upa little slimy from the juice but stilledible if you have a ripened avocadoyou’re not ready to eat put it in thefridge before you cut into it this willslow down the ripening process foranother two to three days once anavocado has been cut its flesh willstart to turn brown as it oxidizes ifyou’re not too fussy you can just scrapeoff the top layer of yucky bits toreveal the green flesh underneath butafter a day or so the whole avocado willprobably go nasty to keep an avocado inthe fridge for another two to three daystry sprinkling it with lemon or limejuice warning this can make your avocadoturn slimy and weird tasting the kitchenrecommends instead placing it in anairtight plastic container with a cut-uppiece of onion which reportedly keeps itfresh for several days you can alsofreeze avocados but they’ll store badlyunless they’ve been poured into aguacamole style mash Shepherd avocadoshave an advantage here they don’t goBrown in the fridge and stay green insandwiches and salads cut it right thebest way to slice open an avocado is tocut it lengthwise around the seed thenrotate the halves to separate them butavoid then extracting the flesh byscooping it out with a spoon becauseyou’ll miss out on the nutritiouscarotenoids in the rougher fleshfastened to the avocados inner skininstead gently peel your avocadoalthough admittedly this method takesway more time and is annoyinglydifficult if the AVO isn’t just rightavocado is a fantastic source ofomega-3s and vitamin E which is integralin the all-important formation of redblood cells good fats will also help youfeel fuller for longer making it lesslikely you’ll reach for that mid-morningsnack[Music][Music]