Bún mắm

Etymology

Food reviewer Mike Sula explains, "Bun refers to the steamed rice vermicelli, which can be a bit mushy. But the key to this soup is the mam, as in mam ca loc (fermented fish paste) or mam tom (fermented shrimp paste), a murky purple slurry that on its own is one of the most odoriferous substances this side of a tannery fire. But added judiciously to soups or stir-fries it provides the elusive element of deep rounded flavor that puts the mam in umami."

History

The origins of this dish is speculated to have come from Cambodia. When the dish came into Vietnam, instead of using mắm bò hóc as a sauce for the broth, it was substituted for fish sauce using mắm cá linh or mắm cá sặc to adapt to the local taste by reducing the strong smell and making it easier to eat. It has become a southern Vietnamese dish created from the Mekong Delta, owing to its use of the unique and specific fish found from the rivers of the Mekong Delta. Bún mắm is usually served along with fresh greens and herbs.

In the United States

Food critic Mike Sula described the bún mắm in a restaurant, Nha Hang Viet Nam, in Chicago's West Argyle Street Historic District (also known as Little Vietnam): "[I] recommend you fill your soup requirement with the bun mam, a.k.a. Vietnamese gumbo, a sour seafood soup not unlike Thai tom yam that originated in the Mekong Delta. It may not best the bowl you'd cool down with in the sweltering damp of Saigon's Ben Thanh market—that one incorporates pork too—but it's a solid one, brimming with eggplant, shrimp, squid, and silky, thinly sliced fish, accompanied by a heaping side of bean sprouts, cilantro, mint, and jalapeños."

A restaurant reviewer in the Boston area praised its delivery at the "Hien Vuong - a needle of a restaurant in a haystack of Vietnamese restaurants that makes up Fields Corner, Dorchester." The critic described this "rarely-found noodle soup whose heady broth is made of pickled/fermented anchovy" as "a huge bowl of murky opaque broth [filled] with thin vermicelli noodles, coarse chunks of skin-on salmon steak, shrimp, and squid. A side of the standard pho embellishments, e.g., sprouts, basil leaves, etc., was presented. Best ways to describe it: Rich, smelly, salty, heady, tangy, sweet & sour, spicy and pungent. Umami-city."

After describing the difficulty of finding bún mắm in the San Francisco Bay Area, food critic Tim Costner praised a restaurant in Oakland, California: "The front-runner for the Bay Area's best bun mam is probably Bun Mam Soc Trang in Oakland, which really captures the spoils of the Mekong Delta (where the Vietnamese city of Soc Trang is located). The bun mam at BMST features tender shrimp, earthy catfish, crispy pork, steamed pork belly, and of course, vermicelli noodles. If you've never tasted bun mam, the word "fermented-fish" might still be rolling around in your head. And what about this broth? Well, at BMST, the bun mam broth isn't nearly as pungent as, say, fish sauce. In fact, it's subtle in its complexity and delicate in its flavor. And it will make you forget about all but the very best pho."

References

References

1. [[Vietweek]] May 18th 2012 print edition. The market beyond the hedge. "Not surprisingly, seasoned shoppers at Phung Hung delight in the fermented fiat of a soup so pungent, it makes [[bún riêu]] seem like a Cup-o-Noodles. Bún mắm allegedly came from the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang, where Khmer, Chinese and Vietnamese communities have intermingled for centuries."
2. Yellowdawn, T. H. ''Fermented Foods: Naturally Enzymatic Therapy''. 2008. Page 277: "Fermented Shrimp and Fish Soup (Bún Mắm). Fermented shrimp paste or fish paste soup can be prepared and cooked at the same time or together."
3. Helen's Recipes (Vietnamese Food). (Nov 29, 2013). "Bun Mam - Vietnamese Seafood Gumbo Recipe". [[YouTube]].
4. Sula, Mike. (January 18, 2012). "One Bite: ''bun mam'', a.k.a. Vietnamese gumbo". [[Chicago Reader]].
5. Khanh Thien. (9 January 2023). "Fermented fish noodle soup: A captivating southern specialty". [[VnExpress]].
6. (2013). "Bún Mắm: the Mekong in a Bowl".
7. (2022). "Bún mắm nổi danh miền Tây - thứ "mị hoặc" khi lần đầu ăn chê dở nhưng thử lần hai lại thấy "ghiền"".
8. Rachel Tran. (16 September 2021). "Unique fermented fish noodle soup".
9. (2013). "Bún Mắm: the Mekong in a Bowl".
10. (2024). "Mắm cá linh và cá sặc - Hương vị miền tây trong từng giọt mắm".
11. (2015). "Bún Mắm: the Mekong in a Bowl".
12. Prav. (September 20, 2012). "Bun Mam - Vietnam's complex, deliciously stinky fermented fish noodle soup". [[Chow (website).
13. Costner, Tim. (September 18, 2012). "The Bun Mam Soup @ Bun Mam Soc Trang, Oakland". The Accidental Wino / thirstyreader.com.