Learning to cook bun cha

While we were out with Trang (Ellie's friend from school) and her mom the day before, they kept asking us what food we liked to eat.  We rattled off several of our favorites, including bun cha, a dish of grilled pork and rice noodles.  The next day they called us and invited us to see how bun cha is made -- apparently Trang and her family get together with Phuong (another of Ellie's friends) and her family frequently to make it.

Libby and I went all the way to the top floor of Phuong's house to watch the moms make the pork.  We had seen this being done many times by street food vendors, but it was interesting to watch it from start to finish.  This is cooking with charcoal on an intimate level:

The ladies (and Phuong's housekeeper) were getting the ingredients ready downstairs.  Lots of bean sprouts, greens, noodles, fish sauce, green papaya, garlic, and bowls.  Delicious.