Vietnam
The noodle is the plate, and the nuoc cham is the salt — that is the section in two lines. Six recipes, each one anchored to the technique article that makes it: the noodle article's rice strand on every bowl, and the Thai section's fish-sauce–lime–sugar dip as the nuoc cham on every plate.
How to read this section: read the the plate, and the nuoc cham is the salt. Read the noodle article for the rice strand, the sauces 101 article for the fish-sauce–lime–sugar dip, and the stock article for the two bowls that run in water. The wrapper article does the gỏi cuốn, and the pan heat article does the bánh xèo, and the grilling and braising articles, on one platter, do the bún chả.
Noodle soups
- Pho (phở bò) — The beef bones, the toasted spice, and the caramelized onion, simmered three hours into a stock that carries the coriander and the anise. The rice noodle goes in the bowl first; the raw beef lies on top and rides the steam of the broth to its pull. The dip, the lime, the basil and the bean sprout come at the table, and the bowl is finished with the hand, not the pot.
- Bun bo Hue (bún bò Huế) — The Hue beef noodle soup: the stock, the annatto, the lemongrass, and the chili in the paste, the brisket and the tendon done to their pull in the 90–95 °C hold, and the rice vermicelli underneath. The dish is the stock article, on the spicy side, and the braise article, in the pot instead of the oven.
The dry noodle
- Cao lau (cao lầu) — Hoi An's noodle bowl, built for one plate and not repeated: the yellow rice noodle, the pork, the chả lụa or the nấm mushroom, the daikon, the fried crouton, and a little of the sauces 101 article's fish-sauce broth. The noodle article's rice strand, on the dry side, is the base, and the bowl is finished with the hand, not the pot.
Grill & pot
- Bun cha (bún chả) — The minced pork patty, seared hard on the griddle until the outside is charred and the center is just set; the belly, braised in the fish sauce and the sugar to its pull. Both lie over the rice vermicelli, with the herbs and the lime, and the nuoc cham dipping sauce does the sauces 101 article's salt on the bowl.
Pan & roll
- Banh xeo (bánh xèo) — The Southern crêpe: the rice-flour batter, the lemongrass and the green onion, a little of the turmeric for the yellow, cooked on the hot oil until the edge lifts and the shell cracks into shards. It is folded around the shrimp and the pork and eaten wrapped in the lettuces and the herbs, with the nuoc cham dipping sauce of the sauces 101 article.
- Goi cuon (gỏi cuốn) — The summer roll: the rice paper, soaked to the soft, laid flat, the vermicelli and the shrimp and the herbs in the last third, rolled tight enough that the cut through the filling is the plate. No heat on the dish — the wrapper article's one family that does not need the oven — and the nuoc cham the sauces 101 article's dip on the side.