# Vietnamese: bún tàu / bún tào



## lcfatima

Does bún tàu or bún tào literally mean "Chinese bun"?

I have always called all cellophane noodles miến, but then I read this wiki which says there is a distinction between bún tàu and miến.



> In Vietnamese cuisine, there are two varieties of cellophane noodles. The first, called bún tàu or bún tào, are made from mung bean starch, and were introduced by Chinese immigrants. The second, called miến or miến dong, are made from canna (Vietnamese: dong riềng), and were developed in Vietnam. These cellophane noodles are a main ingredient in the dishes: miến gà, miến lươn, miến măng vịt, and miến cua.


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## newname

I am no expert in cooking, but bún tàu sounds best (in the Sounth /au/ is pronounced as /ao/ so tàu becomes /tào/)

And miến is different from bún. Bún can be eaten directly without further cooking or processing. Remember that under normal temperature in Vietnam (25 - 32 degrees Celsius) bún gets sour and goes off within a day after it is made. Miến is like bún, but it is dry and therefore can be stored for a very long time and must be cooked before eating.

I have never eaten bún tàu before but I saw this website: Mùi vị - Ẩm thực Việt nam  - Gỏi bún tàu so I know the name bún tàu is misleading, it should be 'miến' tàu

Regards,


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## lcfatima

Does the _tàu_ here mean Chinese?


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## newname

I am sorry I am not sure. But many of our dishes originate from China so they have the 'tàu'.

Note: Tàu means China/Chinese. Be warned that it is an insulting word. Don't use it except in food names.


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## lcfatima

Everyone Vietnamese (including viet kieu who are ethnic Chinese from Vietnam) I know says tau. I knew the formal name is trung hoa, and thought calling someone nguoi tau might be slang but didn't realize it was offensive. Do you know anything about the history of the word and why it is offensive.

Sorry I am posting from my phone so I can't correct the mistakes above, hope you can understand.


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## newname

I had never thought about finding out why we use the word Tau till you asked. So first I thank you and here's the link: http://sinhvienkhoaluat.info/forum/archive/index.php/t-1873.html (post #2 by Apologize2704)

I am sorry I cannot translate it to English but I think you could be able to understand the main point.


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