bahn mi....care to share your recipe?

No, I am not going to tell you anything, it is an ancient Asian peoples secret.


I will tell you this.

1. There is a pate spread used in Banh Mi, it is pretty much one key to a successful replica. Every cook has their own recipe. It is however, possible to simply buy some Pate de Campange and mash it up into a spread.

2. You can use just about any meat, but, remember that it is a street food in origin, and is great with grilled meat with a nice sweet/savory flavor. Any meat works, but, chicken and pork are going to be the most likely traditional meat.

3. The bun, and this is the hard part, should be made with a mix of rice and wheat flour to get a thin crisp crust and a very light tender crumb. Overall the bread is very similar to a small baguette. Although most store bought baguettes in this country suffice, they are far from ideal.

4. The bread is generally not toasted, the vegetables are cold and the meat is usually hot. There is no dressing, although mustard is sometimes used. I actually like a nice grainy mustard on mine. No mayo! The pickled vegetables provide the moisture the sandwich needs.

As for meat, I would say that while I have offered many recipes for Asian-ish meat for grilling, my current post on Viet-inspired pork would work great. Hmm, that pretty much covers the secrets, dang, he pried them out of me

The place I get mine at is something like this, except they use a ginger mayo, pate etc. The bread is very important and the pickled daikon/carrot mix is essential and don't forget the sliced jalapenos.:thumb:

• *** Sandwich ***
• 1 8-inch French baguette
• 1 - 2 Tbsp. chili garlic sauce (available in the Asian food section of most markets)
• 1 roasted chicken breast (I usually buy a rotisserie chicken at the grocers)
• 1 cup mixed baby greens
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 1/4 cup sliced fresh jalapeno or serrano peppers (optional)
• *** Pickled Daikon and Carrots ***
• 2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 4-inch daikon radish, peeled and cut into very thin strips
• 1 4-inch carrot, peeled and cut into very thin strips

Preparation:

1. Combine vinegar, sugar and salt in a bowl and whisk to dissolve sugar.
2.Add daikon and carrot and marinate for 30 minutes.
3. Cut baguette in half horizontally. Spread bottom half with chile garlic sauce, top with remaining ingredients and cut crosswise into 2 sandwiches.

I suggest you consider using palm sugar instead of cane sugar.

I did 2 years in the "Southeast Asia War Games".

Loved them when I could get into the civilian world to buy them.

I never knew they were so complicated :-D

I love to learn new things every day.

Thanks for the thread.

TIM

The funny thing is, they are complicated for us, since we have long since abandoned our French Colonial traditions. For the Viet people, the reality of French Colonialism is still very much a part of their culture. Fine baguettes, pates and pickles are every day things to them. This is street food at it's finest.

This is my favorite sandwich. We don't have access to good french baguette, so we use a [FONT=&quot]bolillo here in South Texas. [/FONT]Here is:
Pickled Daikon and Carrots
Ingredients:
1/2 lb. carrots Cleaned and peeled
1/2 lb. daikon radish Cleaned and peeled
1.5 cups warm water
1.5 Tablespoons distilled or rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
I use a vegetable peeler to make thin ribbons from the carrots and daikon. I place alternating layers into a quart canning jar. Dissolve the salt and sugar in the warm water and add the vinegar. Pour this over the vegetables and let marinate three days.

Bánh Mì Meat Recipes
1 pound of Pork or Chicken Breast, Sliced thinly.
2 cloves crushed garlic
2 tablespoons of fish sauce, Red Boat of course
2 teaspoons sugar
1-2 tablespoons fresh ground black pepper. If you like the spice and flavor, add more!
2 tablespoons of finely chopped shallots or onion. I've been using minced dehydrated onions
1/4 cup vegetable or oil
1 teaspoon of sesame seed oil

Mix everything except the meat in a dish. Add the meat and stir until coated Marinate for one hour.
I get a cast iron skillet screaming hot and add the meat. This cooks it and gives a a char.

I mix 50:50 sambal oleck and mayo, and smear on bun. Add the meat, carrots and daikons, sliced fillets of jalapeno and cilantro.

Steve

That farkn Nom Nom truck.

Sauce

1/3 cup H20
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 cup lime Juice
2 tsp Soy
1 tsp Fish Sauce
(can also add up to 2 Tablespoons of Canola Oil if you like, we stopped doing this just for the calorie factor)

Meat

Pound of pork shoulder sliced in thin strips

2 - 4 cloves crushed garlic
1 - 2 Tablespoons fish sauce
1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
1 - 2 Tablespoons fresh ground pepper ( for me I would go with 2 for my wife I need to drop it down to 1/2 to 1)
3-4 Tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 - 2 teaspoons sesame seed oil
1/4 cup sauce from above
1/8 cup rice vinegar

(Mix all of the above together and add to the pan once the pork is cooked down)

Cook the pork shoulder to desired doneness. If you are careful and start out slow you don't need to add any oil as the fat will render away. Otherwise you could start out with a bit of canola oil to keep things from sticking. Cook the shoulder down and then add all of the marinade. Turn down the heat a bit and let it all cook down.

We also use bolillos since a local store has those on a daily basis. We sprinkle the sauce on the bolillo and then on the pickled veggies. I also stopped making our own veggies as it was too expensive to buy everything when we could just get the already pickled veggies cheaper.

Another common ingredient is thinly sliced headcheese. If you go to the banh mi shop and look at the menu, the one w/ headcheese is often the "#1" or "special."

My wife's family is from vietnam and they'll buy 5 or 6 banh mi to bring home and stick in the fridge. They keep very well. When it's time to eat one, they lightly toast it in the toaster oven, the whole sandwich. Those who like spice will hit it with some sriracha, and only sriracha. When I've tried to put the chinese chili sauce on it (like sambal), I am banished to the porch.

T

http://battleofthebanhmi.com/

Looks interesting.

Round here we call em Vietnamese Hoagies.

deepsouth said:

this is a nice informative website.

i'm doing these sunday. this is what i've got....

seedless cucumber
pickled daikon
pickled matchstick carrots (making these myself)
raw daikon
raw carrots
pork and liver pate
vietnamese meatballs
chicken
pork tenderloin (the black pepper pork recipe on the website above)
sriracha
soy sauce
garlic mayo (making this myself)
sesame oil
red boat fish sauce

probably leaving out some stuff i'm using.

i'll update as it goes....

Click to expand...

Bread! You are gonna want some bread! :becky: Banh Mi are so much better eaten from bread and not your palms.

How are you planning on using the fish sauce? Are you going to make a nuoc cham sauce or something else?

It is a bit Subway-ish, but, I make an oil and vinegar salad dressing and put on sandwiches, just your typical vinaigrette with a couple/three tablespoons of fish sauce added.