Chả Lụa / Giò Lụa
Pounded pork emulsion, steamed in banana leaves. Vietnamese tradition traces its making to the sixteenth century, in the village of Ước Lễ near Hanoi.
| Very fresh pork tenderloin or loin | 900 g |
| Firm pork fat (back fat) | 100 g |
| Fish sauce (nước mắm) | 30 ml |
| Sugar | 15 g |
| Fine salt | 10 g |
| Ground white pepper | 2 g |
| Tapioca or arrowroot starch | 30 g |
| Bicarbonate of soda | 3 g |
| Crushed ice | 100 g |
| Banana leaves | — |
- Preparing the meat: Use very fresh pork, ideally slaughtered the same day. Remove all tendons and membranes. Cut into cubes, then part-freeze (−2 °C).
- Traditional pounding: In a mortar, pound the meat until it becomes a smooth, elastic paste (30–45 minutes). Or process in a food processor, gradually adding the crushed ice.
- Seasoning: Add the fish sauce, the salt, the sugar, the pepper, the starch and the bicarbonate. Continue mixing to a very smooth, sticky paste that comes away from the sides.
- Elasticity test: The paste should be very elastic and spring back when pressed.
- Shaping: Spread the blanched banana leaves. Lay the paste in a cylinder 5 to 6 cm in diameter. Roll tightly into a sausage shape.
- Cooking: Steam for 45 to 60 minutes according to size.
- Cooling: Leave to cool completely before unwrapping. Refrigerate.
The chả lụa, a pounded pork emulsion cooked in steam, whose making tradition traces to the village of Ước Lễ under the Mạc dynasty, does not derive from the Bolognese mortadella. The influence of French charcuterie during the colonisation (1858–1954) may have helped refine the techniques, but the principle of pounded meat cooked in steam was already established. The name joins chả (a preparation of pounded, cooked meat) and lụa (silk), in reference to the texture of the finished product. The variant giò lụa, a northern term, designates the same product.
The distinctive technique is the prolonged pounding. The pork, worked very cold, is pounded in the mortar for thirty to forty-five minutes, until the released myofibrillar proteins form an elastic, sticky gel. The bicarbonate of soda alkalises the forcemeat and favours this solubilisation, while preserving the pale pink colour. Without this step, it is impossible to achieve the product's gelatinous, homogeneous texture.
The banana-leaf wrapping is at once functional and aromatic: the leaves hold the cylindrical shape during the steaming, prevent drying out and bring a vegetal note. After cooking, they leave a green imprint visible at the cut on the surface. This technique of vegetal wrapping is common to several South-East Asian charcuteries (e.g., Thai mu yor and some versions of nem chua).
The chả lụa is the central charcuterie ingredient in the bánh mì, the Vietnamese sandwich made with a French baguette filled with pâté, sliced chả lụa, pickled carrot and daikon, chilli, and coriander. This sandwich, born on the streets of Saigon at the junction of French and Vietnamese cuisines, has become one of the emblems of world street food. The bánh mì was recognised as an official entry in Merriam-Webster in 2022, a consecration testifying to its integration into anglophone culinary culture.
Chả lụa is also added at the end of cooking to noodle soups, fried-rice dishes, and certain simmered preparations.
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