Bun Thang (Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup)

I have come so far in my photography, so I wanted to take some of my old recipes and reshoot them. Bun Thang is one of my favorites and one I used to request from my mom all the time. So when I moved to the Bay and started cooking authentic Vietnamese dishes, I knew it was something I had to learn to make.

Growing up with Bun Thang

Bun Thang is the Vietnamese version of chicken noodle soup. I absolutely loved this Vietnamese noodle soup growing up. As a kid, I would beg my mom to make this all the time. It has a chicken broth similar to chicken pho, served with vermicelli noodles, and topped with cha lua, Vietnamese coriander, green onions, eggs, and shredded chicken. It’s a clean, cozy soup topped with all my favorite toppings. I also add a small spoon of shrimp paste to give it an extra kick (optional).

Some deets about key ingredients

• Chicken – The base of this broth is chicken, so I use a whole 4 pound chicken for my broth. You can use any cut of chicken, but I would highly recommend using chicken with some type of bone for the best, richest broth. The chicken is also a topping. If you have any leftover chicken, use it to make Goi Ga which is a Vietnamese chicken salad traditionally served with Bun Thang.
• Yellow onion – Yellow onion can be substituted with white onion.
• Dried shrimp – Dried shrimp can be substituted with 1 pound of fresh shrimp.
• Vermicelli noodles – Vermicelli noodles are the most traditional kind of noodles used for Bun Thang. I would highly recommend vermicelli if you can find it. If you can’t find vermicelli, use any type of rice noodles. See my post on how to cook vermicelli for a detailed guide on how to prepare this ingredient.
• Vietnamese coriander (Rau Ram) – This Vietnamese herb is what gives this dish its unique flavor. There really isn’t anything like it, so I don’t recommend any substitutions. If you can’t find it, you can still serve this soup, but it will be missing a major flavor component.

Making my Bun Thang recipe (with tips!)

Making the broth

1. First, soak the dried shrimp. Submerge the dried shrimp in a bowl of cold water and let it sit for 10 minutes.
2. Put the chicken in a large soup pot. Fill the pot with water until it just covers the chicken. Don’t put in too much water as it will cause the soup to be too weak. Bring the water to a boil. As the water starts to boil, scoop away the impurities as they float to the surface. After you scoop away all the impurities, add in the onion, salt, and dried shrimp. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.
   • Tip #1: Don’t let the broth boil too much as this will create a cloudy soup.
3. As the soup is simmering, cut the cha lua into small strips and set aside. Whisk the eggs. Get a large saute pan and pour a thin layer of egg into the pan ~2 eggs per egg pancake). Cook the egg on each side for a minute each. Cut the egg pancakes into small strips and set aside. Cut up the Vietnamese coriander and green onions and set aside.
4. After the soup has been cooking for 30 minutes, take out the chicken and shred up the meat. Put the chicken bones back into the soup. Taste the soup to make sure you added enough seasoning and add more salt if needed. Pour in the chicken stock and let simmer for 2 hours.

Prepping your noodle bowl

1. Bring water to boil in another pot to cook the vermicelli noodles. Add in the package of vermicelli noodles and cook for 2-3 minutes. Taste the noodles to make sure they are done.
2. Now it’s time to put it all together. Put a handful of noodles into a large bowl. Top the noodles with cha lua, egg, shredded chicken, green onions, and Vietnamese coriander. Add fish sauce and pepper to taste. Finally, ladle some soup over the noodles and toppings.
   • Tip #2: For extra flavor, add a dollop of shrimp paste to your noodle bowl.

Make the broth a day ahead for the best flavor

Soup always tastes better the next day. If you have the time, make the broth a day ahead before serving it. It’s especially true for Vietnamese soups like this one and others like homemade sweet and sour soup. I personally like to finish making the broth and let it sit on the stove for 8-10 hours, so all the ingredients can further flavor the broth.

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