Celebrating Sandwich Week Vietnamese Style with a Pork Bánh Mì

Vietnamese Pork Banh Mi

I have just come back from a long weekend in Hanoi where I was able to feast on a few Vietnamese delights. I always go through phases of the type of food I like and at the moment, it is definetly Vietnamese. The fresh, clean flavours with just the right amount of piquancy is what I am currently drawn to.

With it being National Sandwich Week in Britain, I thought there could be no more of a fitting tribute to my favorite food than to make a Vietnamese Pork Bánh Mì. As with all my recipes, this is very easy to make and is a jazzy alternative to the bog standard British sandwich. You will of course not get any points for eating with style once you get your gnashers round this monster of a sandwich

. Have a try and see what you think.
Print Vietnamese Pork Bánh Mì

Prep Time: 2 hours, 20 minutes

Cook Time: 6 minutes

Serving Size: 2

There is very minimal cooking time with this recipe. The longest element involves marinating the meat so you may want to do this the night before. This is a fabulous lunch treat. You will feel truly spoiled after wolfing down this baguette!

Ingredients

• 5 pork chops (off the bone), sliced into 1.5 inch wide pieces
• 1 French baguette (for two people) with ends trimmed off.
• 1 small carrot sliced julienne
• 1 small or half a cucumber very finely sliced
• 1 red jalepeno pepper, finely sliced
• 1/4 red onion, half the quantity should be finely chopped, the other half should be sliced
• A handful of coriander (with stems)
Dressing
• 3 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon of white sugar
For the marinade
• 2 tablespoons of fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons of black pepper
• 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons of sugar
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• Red onion finely chopped (as stated above)

Instructions

1. Prepare the marinade by mixing together the fish sauce, pepper, vegetable oil, sesame oil, sugar, garlic and chopped onion in a bowl.
2. When you are satisfied that the ingredients are sufficiently dissolved, add the pork and marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours (or, overnight).
3. For the salad dressing, get a bowl and mix together the rice wine vinegar and the white sugar. Taste to ensure you have the right balance of sweet and sour.
4. Bathe the sliced cucumber, carrots and red onion in the salad dressing in batches (i.e. cucumbers first, then carrots, then red onion)
5. Heat up the frying pan. Place the pieces of pork in the pan one by one and turn over when you feel that they have been cooked. This should be for about 3 minutes each side. The meat should have a brown carmelised color.
6. Cut your baguette in half and slice through the center lengthways.
7. Assemble the finely sliced cucumbers on the base of the baguette.
8. Layer the meaty goodness of the pork on top.
9. Sprinkle the julienne carrot on top of the meat.
10. Add the sliced red onion sparingly on the carrot.
11. Place the red chilli slices on top.
12. Garnish with fresh coriander

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A mouthful of Vietnam

What is your  favorite sandwich? Are there any unusual combinations out there?

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