Bun Moc is an easy and delicious Vietnamese noodle soup dish.
Outline of steps to make 10+ servings of "Bun Moc":
- Prepare noodles
- Prepare broth (chicken, pork, or vegetable broth). [See Mom’s vegetable broth in separate post]
- Create mixing bowl for “moc” meatballs
- Once soup boils, insert spoonfuls of “moc” into soup, taste
- Serve bowls of noodles and "moc" soup with fresh vegetables of your choice (i.e. lettuce, cilantro, mint)
Noodles preparation:
- 4 packs of "bun" (dried vermicelli rice noodles)
- Steps: boil noodles until soft, pour onto basket once ready to drain water, wash cooked noodles with cold tap water, rinse noodles with hot boiling water, allow noodles to dry in basket in open air, stir noodles as necessary to separate
Moc meatball ingredients (mix):
- 1 lb shrimp (or 20 shrimp medium-sized), washed with vinegar & salt water, then rinsed. Peeled, deveined, and minced [pounded to tenderize, and chopped into chunks]
- Add 1 teaspoon of fish sauce on minced shrimp (for flavoring)
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 shallots, minced
- 1/3 cup of minced cilantro stems
- 1 teaspoon of finely ground pepper
- 1 tablespoon of "hanh phi / hanh chay" - Vietnamese-style crispy shallots [this can be made at home, or bought from Vietnamese supermarkets]
- 1 egg, beaten
Mix evenly, then add:
- 2 lb Vietnamese raw ham paste (called "gio song") [this can be bought from Vietnamese "gio" shops]
Mix evenly
"Moc" Meatball-Making Technique:
- Squeeze palm-full of mix within palm of hand
- Allow "ball" of meat to form in opening between thumb/index finger
- Re-squeeze several times until "meatball" is round and smooth
- Use a spoon to scoop meatball up, and drop meatball into pot of broth
- Meatballs will sink to bottom of pot when raw... then float once cooked
Soup tasting:
- 1 teaspoon of salt, taste
- 1 cup of fish sauce, taste