Tasty Tuesday
Easy Banh Mi
Michael Pham of Phamily Kitchen is back with us today, sharing another classic French / Vietnamese classic lunch snack – the ‘Banh Mi’!
Banh Mi is the name given to the super tasty filled bread roll often found at your local Vietnamese bakery – you know, the crispy baguette with super fluffy centre, spread with French paté, asian meat of some description (roast duck or pork, usually), sweet pickled carrots, coriander and chilli. Possibly the best cross-cultural flavour explosion ever invented.
Easy Banh Mi by Michael Pham of Phamily Kitchen, photo – Sean Fennessy for The Design Files.
Kitchen details at Phamily Kitchen, photo – Sean Fennessy for The Design Files.
Banh Mi and rice paper rolls at Phamily Kitchen, photo – Sean Fennessy for The Design Files.
Honestly, if you haven’t ever had one of these you’ve probably been living under a rock. It’s the favourite on-the-go Vietnamese bakery lunch that usually costs a fiver, and leaves you one hand free to make some phone call while you’re on lunch break.
If you’re in the mood to give this a crack, it’s easily compiled at home, and is perfect for an easy snack, picnic, packed lunch or dinner party appetiser. You can use meat from the local Chinese restaurant, leftover KFC, that freaky grey Vietnamese ham-style pork loaf wrapped in bamboo that used to get me in fights over lunch at school, grandma’s meatballs…whatever you’ve got. It’s the pickles, paté and herbs that will make it pop. Not to mention the crispy, fluffy French-style Vietnamese baguettes.
Ingredients
- Decent quality store-bought paté (we prefer Maggie Beer cracked pepper)
- Mayonnaise (we prefer a whole egg, or hell, do it well… use Kewpie)
- Butter (Lurpak, c’mon)
- Half a roast duck, or a nice chunk of roasted char-siu pork from your local Chinese butcher or restaurant, nicely sliced to fit into a sandwich
- Maggi seasoning (or soy sauce)
- Cucumber, sliced long and thin
- 2 carrots, grated
- 1/2 white daikon, grated
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 cup water to cover
- Coriander
- Banh-mi rolls from your local Vietnamese bakery, or a French stick.
Method
Make some quick pickles. Grate the carrot and daikon, and let soak in the fridge in vinegar, water and sugar for at least ten minutes.
Cut the roll open, but not all the way… you want to make a neat hinge to hold it together.
Spread! Lay down the butter, then paté on the floor of the roll, drop the mayo on the ceiling. Lay down the cucumber slices, well drained pickles and sliced meat. Give it a good squirt of Maggi. Garnish with coriander, chilli if you like.
EAT! Make another one, eat that too. You’re a hungry person!
Michael tucks into his Banh Mi at Phamily Kitchen, photo – Sean Fennessy for The Design Files.