HOW TO MAKE BANH MI recipe VIDEo
vietnamese BREAD (Banh Mi)
The best option for your Banh Mi recipe is a Vietnamese baguette (which literally means “Banh Mi”). It is similar to a French baguette but is short, with a crispier crust and softer, airier inside because it’s made with rice flour or rice and wheat flour. Alternatively, you can use any baguette or roll with a crusty exterior and soft interior. In a bind, you can use two long baguettes and slice them into smaller sandwiches after assembling. I purchased my baguettes at Sprouts as “Bake and Take” and they were perfect.
Banh Mi Sandwich Spread Ingredients
fresh Vegetable Ingredients
Step 1: SLICE the Meat
Slice the pork thinly into 1/4-inch slices lengthwise. Cover with plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet to about 1/8-inch even thickness.
STEP 2: MARINATE THE MEAT
Add all of the Banh Mi marinade ingredients to a high powered blender and blend until smooth. The picture below shows a food processor – but I discovered a blender works much better. Add the sliced meat and marinade to a freezer size bag or shallow dish and marinate in the refrigerator for 4 to 8 hours (the longer the better)!
Step 3: Make the Pickled Vegetables
Add water, vinegar and sugar to a microwave-safe liquid measuring cup and microwave until boiling, about 60 seconds. Whisk to dissolve the sugar and salt. Add the vegetables to a mason jar or bowl. Carefully pour the vinegar mixture over top. Press the vegetables down with a spoon to help submerge, then wait 10 minutes or so and repeat until they are all submerged in the solution. Let the mixture cool to room temperature for 30 minutes, then seal and refrigerate until ready to use.
Step 4: Cook the Pork
After the pork has had time to sit in the marinade, remove it from the fridge and set out at room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking. Clean, grease, and preheat an outdoor grill or indoor grill pan to high heat. Before cooking the pork, open the baguette rolls and grill the insides just until toasted.
Then, working in batches, add the pork slices in a single layer and cook for 1 to 2 minutes per side – don’t overcook!
Step 5: Assemble the Banh Mi Sandwiches
Whisk the mayonnaise and Asian chili garlic sauce together. Spread the chili mayo in a thin layer on the top and bottom of each toasted role. Spread some pâté along the bottom of each roll (optional but HIGHLY recommended!). Layer the sandwiches with sliced pork, drained pickled vegetables, cucumber slices, jalapeño slices, and chopped cilantro.
Partially freeze the pork for easier slicing. The pork is much easier to slice if partially frozen (freeze for 1-2 hours). When ready to slice, cut the pork tenderloin in half, then stick half back in the freezer until you’re finished slicing the first half. Don’t skip pounding the pork. Just like chicken, pounding the pork tenderizes the meat even further – you’ll be amazed at how buttery tender it becomes! It also helps to even out uneven slices. If you don’t have meat mallet, use the side of a can or a rolling pin. Marinate the pork, but not too long. Ideally, the pork will marinate for 6-8 hours for maximum flavor infusion. However, don’t marinate the pork much longer because the marinade can break down the proteins of the thin slices which will make the pork mushy. Pickle the vegetables early. Likewise, the longer you let the veggies bathe in the pickling brine, the more pronounced the sweet and tangy flavors will be. I suggest pickling the vegetables a day early so they can marinate for a full 24 hours. At the very least, pickle them just after you get the pork in the marinade. Slice the matchsticks thinly. Both the carrots and daikon deliver dynamic crunch, so make sure to slice them quite thinly. Thicker is fine, but they will be that much crunchier! Don’t skip the five-spice. If you are not using pate, then I highly recommend using Chinese 5-Spice in the marinade. Many pates are seasoned with Chinese 5 Spice and really elevate the sandwich. You must toast your baguette. The crunch is part of the full Banh Mi experience! Additionally, you don’t want the inside of the sandwiches to get soggy. Preheat the grill to high heat. I experimented using medium-high and high and high delivered the best sear and most tender pork. As always, don’t add the pork until the grill reaches full temperature. Clean the grill. The pork is sliced thinly and cooks in a matter of minutes so it’s crucial that your grill is clean. If the pork sticks to the grill grates, it will be tough to flip and you’ll likely wind up overcooking it. Do NOT overcook the pork. The pork should be tender, not dry. You only need to cook the pork slices a couple minutes per side, so work in batches as needed so you can really pay attention. The first side of the pork will likely be deeply seared and the second side will not have as much color because the pork will be done cooking. DO NOT wait to remove the pork until the second side is deeply seared too. Keep in mind that the grill make cook the pork unevenly, so remove the pork slices as needed. Switch on your oven vent if grilling the pork indoors. Things may get a little smoky, so start running the vent as the grill pan preheats.
Use a long baguette. If you can’t find short baguettes, use long baguettes, assemble, then slice. Make it spicy. Add extra chili garlic paste to the chili mayo or marinade, leave the seeds inside the jalapeño peppers, pile on extra jalapeño slices and/or drizzle the Vietnamese Sandwiches with sriracha. Omit the chilies. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if you are sensitive to heat, omit the chilies and/or the chili sauce in the mayonnaise. Add extra vegetables. Feel free to add extra veggies such bell peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, avocados, pickled red onion, etc. – whatever sounds good to you. You can also substitute classic red radishes for the daikon radish, just be aware that they are more potent. Add extra herbs. In addition to cilantro, try fresh mint, green onions and/or Thai basil. Go vegetarian: Swap the pork for marinated tofu cut into strips or grilled tempeh cut into thin strips, or even mushrooms. For vegan, you can also swap the mayonnaise for Vegenaise if you wanted to avoid eggs as well. Chicken Banh Mi: Marinate whole chicken breasts or thighs instead of the pork. DO NOT thinly slice the chicken before marinating or it will dry out. Instead, grill the chicken, rest for 10 minutes, then thinly slice. Use Vietnamese cold cuts: In addition to the pork or instead of, use Vietnamese “Brawn” (Thi Nguoi) and/or Cha Lua Vietnamese Pork Loaf. Banh Mi pork meatballs: These soft meatballs are gently poached in Vietnamese broth which makes them easy to “smash” into the baguette.
Tag @CarlsbadCravings and Use #CarlsbadCravngs Leave a Review, I Always Love Hearing From You!
