Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Bún mắm" in English language version.
In fact, many people speculate that the origins of bún mắm lie not in Vietnam but in neighbouring Cambodia, whose Khmer empire once ruled over what is now southern Vietnam.
Bún mắm is a southern Vietnamese dish, thought to have originated in Sóc Trăng Province, in the Mekong Delta.
One of the things that southern Vietnamese dishes (especially soups) are famous for is the plethora of fresh greens that they are served with. Even by southern standards, bún mắm is accompanied by a jungle of leaves, stalks, stems, flowers and herbs. These come on a separate plate, either uncooked or blanched in hot water.
Nonetheless, instead of being cooked with prahok sauce (crushed, salted fermented mudfish sauce), Mekong Delta' Bun Mam is cooked with the sauce made from moustached danio or snakeskin gourami. That is why the aroma is not as strong as the original version and easier to eat.
According to Chau, the dish was originally from Cambodia, where the broth was made from mam bo hoc - Cambodian fermented fish sauce.
