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Preparation
40 minutes
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Cooking
1 hour 45 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Bún mắm is a famous soup dish known for its unique, delicious, and unusual flavor from the southwestern people, combining various kinds of seafood, vegetables, and roasted pork to provide the family with a tasty change of meals. Let’s get cooking and make it right away!
Ingredients for Bún mắm Serves 4 people
Roasted pork 200 gr Red tilapia 1 fish (800gr) Fish cake 200 gr Shrimp 400 gr Squid 300 gr Fermented fish sauce 300 gr (or fermented linh fish sauce) Eggplant 2 pieces Pineapple 1/2 piece Chili 3 pieces Red onion 2 bulbs Lemongrass 3 stalks Horned chili 5 pieces Green onion 3 sprigs Chives 20 gr Accompanying vegetables a little (bean sprouts/ bitter vegetables/ water lily flowers/ banana flowers) Fresh rice noodles 500 gr Fish sauce 1/2 teaspoon Cooking oil 7 tablespoons Common spices a little (salt/ seasoning powder/ ground pepper/ sugar/ monosodium glutamate)
Implementation tools
How to choose fresh and delicious ingredients
How to choose good quality fish sauce
- You should choose packaged fish sauce to ensure food safety.
- Prioritize brands that are reputable, with clear origin information and production ingredients.
- Do not choose those that have an unpleasant smell or an unusual greasy surface.
How to choose fresh squid
- You should select squid with dark purple skin and a milky white body.
- You can check the freshness of the squid by pressing it with your hand; if it feels firm and elastic, then it’s good to buy!
- Do not choose squid that feels too soft, has an unpleasant smell, or has many unusual dark spots on the surface.
How to choose fresh shrimp
- Fresh shrimp usually have a translucent shell, and you can smell the typical sea fragrance.
- Prioritize choosing shrimp with the head and body firmly attached and the legs neatly folded inwards.
- Do not buy shrimp with overly soft shells, that feel slimy to the touch, or have an unpleasant smell.
How to choose fresh and delicious pork
- Good pieces of meat usually have bright red lean meat, while the fat part is an appealing opaque white.
- In addition, you should choose pieces with a balanced ratio of lean meat to fat, as they will taste better when eaten.
- Avoid pieces with a slimy surface, meat that is no longer fresh, and those that have an unpleasant smell when sniffed.
How to choose fresh and delicious red tilapia
- Choose red tilapia with scales tightly attached to the body and a shiny appearance.
- Fresh fish typically have clear, slightly bulging eyes; avoid those with cloudy or slimy eyes.
- Avoid fish that lack firmness when touched and have an unpleasant smell when sniffed.
How to prepare Bún mắm
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Prepare the ingredients
Lemongrass, remove the wilted leaves and roots, wash clean, take 1 stalk of lemongrass to mince. Shallots, peel off the skin, wash clean, cut one bulb in half, and mince the other bulb.
Green onions, cut off the wilted yellow leaves and roots, wash clean, separate the green onion tops, and chop the green leaves finely. Horn chili, wash clean, use a knife to slice it in half lengthwise, then carefully remove the seeds. For regular chili, wash clean and mince finely.
Pineapple, peel off the skin and eyes, wash clean, and cut into pieces. Eggplant, wash clean and cut into bite-sized pieces.
Red tilapia, wash clean, remove the internal organs, scales, and fins. Then cut the fish into 3 pieces, keeping the head and tail aside for another dish, for the Bún mắm, you only need the middle piece!
Continue using a knife to remove the fish bones and wash thoroughly with water. Cut the fish into bite-sized pieces.
For squid, peel off the skin and wash thoroughly with water.
Crispy pork, cut into bite-sized pieces about 1/2 finger thick.
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Making Chili Fish Cake
Add chopped green onions into a bowl containing the fish paste, mix well so that the onions blend into the fish paste. Next, place all the fish paste into a plastic bag, season with 1 teaspoon of seasoning powder, 1/3 teaspoon of monosodium glutamate, 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, and 1 teaspoon of cooking oil.
Then, use your hands to knead the fish paste thoroughly to ensure the spices are evenly distributed. Finally, add 1/2 teaspoon of fish sauce and mix well again.
Use a spoon to scoop the fish paste into each prepared chili pepper. Similarly, continue until all the fish paste and chili peppers are used up.
After stuffing is complete, place a pan on the stove, add about 3 tablespoons of cooking oil, wait for the oil to heat up, then carefully add the stuffed chili peppers and fry until golden brown on both sides, then remove to a plate to drain the oil.
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Boiling shrimp, squid, fish
Put a pot of water on the stove, add 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/3 teaspoon of monosodium glutamate, and bring to a boil. When the water boils, add the squid and boil for about 2 minutes.
Once the squid is cooked, add the shrimp and boil for another 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, both the shrimp and squid are cooked, then scoop them out into a bowl to drain.
Finally, add the red tilapia and boil for about 4 minutes, then carefully scoop the fish out.
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Prepare the broth
Place a pot on the stove and add about 2 liters of water. After 30 minutes of cooking the fish sauce, the fish should be soft; pour the fish sauce through a sieve to remove the fish remnants. The filtered fish sauce is then added to the broth, along with all the chopped aromatic ingredients, and simmer for about 1 hour.
Next, pour the water used for boiling the shrimp, squid, and fish through a sieve into the pot.
Heat a pan on the stove, add about 3 tablespoons of cooking oil, and wait for the oil to heat up before adding the chopped lemongrass. Stir-fry for about 1 minute, then add the minced chili and stir-fry for another 3 minutes before adding this mixture to the broth.
Season with 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1 tablespoon of seasoning powder, and 1/2 teaspoon of monosodium glutamate. Add all the eggplants and simmer for another 10 minutes, then taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking before turning off the heat. Add a little chives for extra aroma in the broth.
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Completion
To complete this Bun Mam dish, place an adequate amount of noodles into a bowl, arrange the ingredients including shrimp, squid, and fish, and ladle the broth over them.
Top with some roasted pork and chili sausage, and add a bit of bitter vegetable on top to make the dish more appealing. Mix well and enjoy!
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Final Product
After completion, Bún mắm has a clear and beautiful broth. The broth is rich and sweet, combined with the sweetness of various ingredients, giving you a very balanced and delicious taste.
Fresh and flavorful ingredients, dipped in tamarind sauce, enhance the delicious aroma. This dish will surely make your family love it.
Notes for successfully making fermented fish noodle soup:
- When cooking the fermented fish to filter through a sieve to extract the broth, you should not add too much water as this will dilute the concentrated broth.
- To prevent the fermented fish noodle soup from being too rich, you can combine it with bitter herbs, water spinach, or bean sprouts.
See more:
- How to cook fermented fish crab noodles – fragrant and flavorful fermented fish crab noodles from Gia Lai
- The 3 best ways to make Central Vietnamese fermented fish noodle salad that are full of flavor and easy to make at home
- How to cook simple and delicious fermented fish hotpot with snakehead fish that is flavorful and not fishy
