Ladder noodles ? or bún thang!

This review is one of my very first posts! I feel it should be rewritten, with new photos! And I did today with support from my friends who invited me to taste this speciality at their home! Thank you! 

I really don't know how to translate this noodles into English - Bún thang (literally ladder noodles???)

I have no idea where the word "thang" comes from ? In Vietnamese "thang" literally means "ladder" but if we call "ladder noodles" it would be very very funny and no Vietnamese could understand that!

So "ladder noodles" just between us!

Bún thang originally from North, but already found a new home in many places in South, esp. in Saigon where has been considered as the largest food hub (!). Easy to find bún thang around the city!

In Hà Nội in the old days bún thang traditionally prepared on the fourth day of our Lunar New Year (Tết), when we have a meal to see off our ancestor.  All the left-overs in the kitchen from ham, chicken, shrimp, pork to some veggie have been used for this bún thang! That's why everything has been cut into shreds!

Today bún thang seems simplified a lot, from the ingredients to the cooking process, esp. in South where is far away from the origin place!

Our today bún thang is neither from street vendor nor sidewalk stall but at my old friend's house!

We used to be classmates but lost contact for over 20 years. We met again only by chance when I worked for a mobile company and he - our distributor! From time to time we gather together for good food and good time! My friend's wife prepares an excellent bún thang!

Bún thang requires long preparation! How to keep the soup clear, how to make thin omelette, to cut it and Vietnamese pork ham into super thin shreds as you see from the photo!

And also how to tear the cooked chicken meat into small small strips, but we missed shrimp floss this time! Otherwise our color picture would look nicer with red shrimp floss, yellow egg shreds, pink pork ham strips, green Vietnamese mint and ivory chicken floss!

  

Soup for bún thang is chicken soup base, to keep it clear during cooking process would take time and patience to do so! Among different kinds of soup for rice noodles I probably prefer the taste of chicken soup than the others, pork or beef!

                         before adding soup! 

Bún thang is quite unique, outstanding from other noodles!  We put all items in the bowl - the mix of rice noodles with shreds of fried egg, pork ham strips, chicken floss, Vietnamese mint, some slices of red chili and finally the soup! Squeeze some lemon juice and a spoon of shrimp paste!
The combination of egg, ham, chicken with sweet taste from soup and special flavor of shrimp paste! No words to describe! It's just perfect!
Especially strong flavor of shrimp paste makes bún thang tastier, richer!  

                  and now in very clear soup! 

Where is the best place to have this noodles in Saigon? 
Nowadays I see some branded shops called "Bún thang or Bún mộc", you can try it.
In Bến Thành market, they also serve bún thang, so it's worth to check it out!
But don't forget to put a little bit of shrimp paste (mắm tôm), you will never forget this special dish!