Vietnamese people brought bun dau mam tom (vermicelli with tofu and shrimp paste) to New York.

Cuisine and Dining Places

• Thursday, April 27, 2023 14:20 (GMT+7)
• 14:20 27/4/2023

Appearing on the streets of New York (USA), the Vietnamese-style vermicelli with tofu and shrimp paste dish, along with its plastic tables and chairs, has attracted many food enthusiasts.

Vietnamese vermicelli with tofu and shrimp paste has been selling well in New York in recent days. Photo: Nico Schinco/The New York Times .

In Vietnam, bun dau mam tom is a popular street food that can be found almost anywhere. It consists of fried tofu, rice noodles, cucumber, and various herbs. Sometimes it includes fried tofu, pork sausage, etc., and is served with shrimp paste dipping sauce.

Shrimp paste has a rather strong smell and isn't easy for foreigners to eat. Even some Vietnamese people can't tolerate it. However, bun dau mam tom (vermicelli with tofu and shrimp paste) is a rarity in New York, so Jerald Head and Nhung Dao decided to open their restaurant, Mam NYC, in southeast Manhattan in September 2020.

The restaurant is only open three days a week: Friday from 5 PM to 8:30 PM and Saturday and Sunday from 12 PM to 4 PM. Each serving of vermicelli with fermented shrimp paste costs $32 (approximately 800,000 VND).

Recently, with more regular opening hours, the restaurant has welcomed many customers from all over. On busy days, customers spill out onto the sidewalk, and the owner has to personally bring the food to the tables.

Street food vermicelli with tofu and shrimp paste in America.

In 2019, Jerald Head was the head chef at Di An Di restaurant in Brooklyn, New York. There, he began experimenting with Vietnamese-style vermicelli with fermented shrimp paste, under the guidance of his wife. After discussions, they opened a Vietnamese restaurant called Mắm NYC, with Jerald Head as the head chef. Besides vermicelli with fermented shrimp paste, the restaurant also offers other dishes such as vermicelli with clams, garlic duck, and pork offal porridge.

Jerald Head said the reason for making bun dau mam tom (rice noodles with tofu and shrimp paste) a main dish on the menu is because both he and his wife love it. "You can't find a restaurant that sells bun dau mam tom in New York. Customers will be excited to try something new and different. We know they will love bun dau mam tom as much as we do," the restaurant owner stated.

On busy days, Jerald Head also works as a waiter. Photo: Nico Schinco/The New York Times.

Wanting diners to enjoy authentic Vietnamese cuisine, both in appearance and taste, Jerald and Nhung arranged the dishes in a bamboo woven tray lined with banana leaves. All the ingredients, such as tofu, rice patties, and pork sausage, were prepared by the couple themselves.

"We make tofu using a 60kg machine imported from Vietnam. First, we grind soybeans into a milk. Then we cook it and press it into tofu blocks. For the rice flake patties, we mix fresh rice flakes bought in Hanoi during a trip back to Vietnam in 2022 with minced pork and fry them in hot oil," the owner shared.

A plate of vermicelli with tofu costs 32 USD , equivalent to 800,000 VND. Photo: @mam.nyc.

The pork sausage, in particular, is prepared according to a special recipe by Jerald Head's father-in-law (Nhung's biological father). He and his wife sourced pig intestines, pig blood, pig fat, etc., washed them thoroughly, stuffed the ingredients into pig intestines, boiled them until cooked, and then cut them into small slices. The shrimp paste was also brought from Thanh Hoa , mixed with sugar, lime juice, and Thai chili peppers.

In addition, fresh herbs such as mint, perilla, and basil served with the bun dau (vermicelli with tofu) are purchased from a food truck vendor on Grand Street.

Customers spilled out onto the sidewalk on the weekend.

The restaurant space isn't very large, but it has a cozy feel. On nice days, diners can sit on low, blue plastic chairs, brought from Vietnam, to enjoy bun dau mam tom (vermicelli with tofu and shrimp paste), creating a feeling of being in Vietnam. This is also why Mam NYC attracts many customers.

The restaurant's interior isn't very large, but it's elegant and cozy. Photo: Nico Schinco/The New York Times.

Since February, the restaurant's reputation has begun to spread. Customer Hayden Phung, a Vietnamese woman living and working in Philadelphia, said that the bun dau mam tom (rice noodles with fermented shrimp paste) at Mam NYC is even better than the one she ate at in Hanoi.

"The shrimp paste at this restaurant is prepared in the authentic Hang Khay style of Hanoi, foaming up nicely when stirred with chopsticks. The fried rice patties are made from raw minced pork and are quite fragrant. My favorite is the pork sausage in the bun dau platter; it tastes delicious and the sausage slices look high-quality. For me, this dish is worth the money," Hayden Phung commented.

This Vietnamese diner also believes that the quality of the dish lies in the effort put into preparing each ingredient. While eating, she felt the chef's dedication and satisfied her longing for the taste of bun dau mam tom (vermicelli with tofu and shrimp paste) from her hometown.

The tables and chairs were imported from Vietnam. Photo: Hayden Phung, @mam.nyc.

Sharing the same sentiment as Hayden Phung, Nguyen Uyen (living in New York) said: "I'm so happy that I can now eat Vietnamese bun dau mam tom (vermicelli with tofu and shrimp paste) any weekend. All the ingredients are delicious, especially the fried tofu. I ate here in 2020, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the restaurant only recently reopened regularly. The pork sausage tastes much better than before."

Not only Vietnamese people living in the US, but also many Western tourists seek out Mắm NYC when they hear that the restaurant serves the signature Vietnamese dish, bun dau mam tom (vermicelli with tofu and shrimp paste).

According to Tyler, a New York diner, the Vietnamese dishes at Mắm NYC taste the best he's ever had at any Vietnamese restaurant in New York. The fermented shrimp paste served with the dish is also top-notch. The bun dau (vermicelli with tofu and pork) platter includes a variety of green vegetables, whereas other places only offer mint and basil. Tyler's favorite is the sausage and pork offal. He hopes the restaurant will gain more recognition.

The menu at Mắm NYC is bilingual, and the staff wear traditional Vietnamese blouses. Photo: Tyler.

"I saw the restaurant on social media and decided to try it. The seating inside was clean, and the many plastic chairs outside reminded me of Vietnam. The bun dau mam tom (vermicelli with tofu and shrimp paste) tasted great, the fried tofu was crispy, but the portion was a bit small for the price," commented Annie, a resident of Brooklyn.

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For foreigners, Vietnamese shrimp paste is difficult to eat due to its strong smell, but when it touches the tongue, combined with crispy tofu or chewy pork sausage, the unique flavor of the shrimp paste gradually spreads in the mouth. It can be said that bun dau mam tom (rice noodles with tofu and shrimp paste) is gradually winning over the taste buds of diners.

Mắm NYC's name is starting to spread far and wide. Recently, the restaurant was honored to be ranked 26th in The New York Times' top 100 best restaurants in New York City.

The article, filled with glowing praise, also appeared in The New York Times under the title "Mam Serves the Most Exciting Vietnamese Food in New York."

"Shrimp paste has a dark purple color and a distinctive, pungent smell. Imagine taking a fish off a pizza and drying it in the scorching sun; that's what shrimp paste smells like. It's not simply fermented shrimp paste in a jar; chef Jerald Head also stirs it with sliced ​​red chilies and a few drops of fresh lime juice, creating a dipping sauce that smells awful but tastes delicious," author Pete Wells writes.

Tofu, rice patties... all prepared by Jerald and Nhung. Photo: @mam.nyc.

Pete Wells got to see and taste freshly fried tofu. He described the tofu as having a crispy outer layer and an interior that tasted quite similar to mozzarella cheese, better than any tofu he had ever eaten. In the tofu noodle dish, the pork sausage was his favorite.

Furthermore, the New York Times writer was also excited to see the restaurant placing Vietnamese-style plastic tables and chairs on the sidewalk. "Diners often sit on the sidewalk or along the brick wall of the playground, surrounded by pedestrians, dogs, and passing vehicles. It feels like having lunch in Hanoi," the author noted.

The restaurant owner shared: "Some customers can't eat vermicelli with fermented shrimp paste, but they still try it and appreciate Vietnamese cuisine. The restaurant is very fortunate that author Pete Wells understands the Vietnamese street food experience we want to bring. The kitchen is quite small, with only a few cooking utensils and a frying pan. What we focus on is the quality of each dish."

For Jerald Head and Nhung Dao, the warm reception of bun dau mam tom (vermicelli with tofu and shrimp paste) and the street food culture of Vietnam by international friends makes them feel proud. In the future, they plan to open more branches and introduce more Vietnamese dishes.

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Truc Ho

Bun Dau Mam Tom ( rice noodles with tofu and shrimp paste ) - a Vietnamese dish from New York City. This Vietnamese dish, Bun Dau Mam Tom, is available in New York.

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