• BanhMi

Vietnamese Sandwiches (Bánh mì)

Pickled vegetables

First, make the pickled veggies. These should sit for 1-24 hours beforehand to marinate. The recipe below will just about fill 1 regular-sized baguette, enough for 2 hungry or 4 regular folks.

• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp water
• 3 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 large carrot, julienned
• 4-inch long piece of daikon, julienned

Work the salt and 1 Tbsp sugar in to the carrot & daikon in a bowl for about 3 minutes, until some juice collects in the bottom of the bowl. Rinse with cold water in a strainer and squeeze dry.

Next, add the remaining 1 Tbsp sugar, the water, and the rice vinegar. Mix well and let sit, covered, for 1 to 24 hours to marinate.

Nước chấm

Next, make nước chấm (dipping sauce). This will make a fairly large amount, and though it's a little tiny bit better fresh, I keep it up to a month or so in the fridge.

Approximate amounts:

• 2 Thai bird or other very hot red chilis
• 1 small clove garlic, crushed
• 3 Tbsp. sugar
• 2/3 c warm water
• 1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
• 5 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 2 Tbsp. shredded carrots

You can just use the amounts above, but it's better to follow these instructions below:

To make a good nuoc cham, you should start with good limeade. Squeeze the limes into a bowl and add water and sugar until you get a fairly strong but tasty limeade. Now do it again and don't drink it all.

Once you have the limeade, add the garlic. Crush the chilis into a paste, leaving a few larger pieces for visual appeal, and mix them into the sauce. Now add fish sauce from the bottle. Easy does it, just keep adding it until it's got a good flavour -- a bit salty, a bit pungent fishy, a bit sweet, and a bit sour.

If you like a milder sauce, you can make a very watery limeade and then add some rice vinegar instead. It contributes less intense flavour.

The type of fish sauce really matters -- use a light sauce like "Golden Boy", otherwise the sauce will get pretty fishy pretty quickly.

Sandwiches

For the sandwiches themselves, they can be filled with pretty much anything. I tend to use fried tofu, but you can use pretty much any sandwich filling. ("Traditional" vietnamase sandwiches tend to be tofu, fish cake, shredded roast pork, chicken, or tuna.)

You'll need any or all of the following:

• shredded cucumber
• white onion sliced paper-thin, or green (spring) onions sliced into small rounds
• Vietnamese mint or spearmint
• Thai or regular basil
• cilantro (coriander) leaves
• good fresh French baguette
• mayonnaise

• salt & pepper

• hot sauce (like Sriracha "rooster" sauce) (optional but tasty)
• sandwich fillings: roast meats, fried tofu, sausages, more veggies, anything goes.

Chop up and mix together the mint, basil, and cilantroso you can just sprinkle it on each sandwich. If it's going to sit for more than a few minutes, tear the leaves by hand rather than cutting them, or they'll turn dark and wilted. Slice the onion into paper-thin rounds. Likewise the cucumber.

Mix together the mayonnaise and nuoc cham. You can keep them separate, but mixing them seems to keep the nuoc cham from running out of the sandwich so much, and it blends the flavours nicely. You can mix it at any ratio; I use around 2 parts nuoc cham to 3 parts mayonnaise.

Toast the baguette until just crispy and warm and fragrant. Spread on some of the mayo-nuoc cham sauce. The sandwich filling should be warm if that makes sense.

Add the filling, then the cucumber and onions, then some of the pickled veggies (drained somewhat). Sprinkle on the herb mixture. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put a little line of hot sauce on top and serve.

These are best if you make them quickly after the bread is toasted, and they're still warm.