Why Bánh mì is the Perfect Summer Sandwich

Great sandwiches are not only easy to come by, but they also happen to be my favorite category of food. During the summer months, I'm always looking for foods that are fresh and bright and work well on the go. And admittedly, there are many sandwiches that perfectly meet all of them. But banh mi is probably my favorite. And this particular version uses a number of techniques that makes this delicious sandwich surprisingly accessible, fast, and easy to make, while still maintaining the DNA of what is arguably one of the world's greatest sandwiches. Before we jump in, I wanna give a brief thank you for all of you who are watching. This channel has just hit 1,000 subscribers, which is so exciting for me. These videos are incredibly fun and challenging to make, and I'm truly thankful for every person who has watched, and particularly those of you who have subscribed and engaged with me in the comments. You guys are awesome, so thank you. So let's dive into what is arguably the heart of banh mi, beyond the bread, which I'm gonna talk about in just a minute, which is the pickled, or in this case, marinated vegetables that go on top. And I say this is the heart of the sandwich, other than the bread, because the traditional protein that goes into the middle is a pate, or a type of Vietnamese sausage, which is unfortunately very difficult to come by. And I can't remember the last time I ate an actual classic banh mi, despite what a genuinely life-changing culinary experience my first real banh mi was. I started with a European or hothouse cucumber, and using one of my favorite kitchen tools, the peeler, I shaved it all the way down until I started to see seeds. You can use any type of cucumber, and there are many types that have a far better flavor than these, but this style has the advantage of an edible skin, and it is also widely available. Then I peeled the carrot and just kept going with my peeler to shave the carrot. Originally, I was gonna lay these slices out and julienne them, but I think the shaving technique works nicely. And I did the exact same thing with a daikon radish. Then I put the cucumber plus the vegetables into a jar and added kosher salt, stirred them up, and let them sit for 30 minutes. Then I added lime juice and orange juice to just cover them. This is a delicious and fresh marinade, but it is not a pickle, and it will not keep in your fridge for more than a few days. I don't know about you, but I find beyond these staple pickles like red onions or chilies that I know I'll use all the time, extra pickled things tend to just find a corner in my fridge and just kind of live there until I finally rediscover them to just throw them away. But if you do want this to last, replace the citrus juice with rice vinegar or white wine vinegar or the classic distilled white vinegar. As far as a protein, I went with pork belly, which I seasoned with a mixture of equal parts salt and cane sugar and a heavy dose of garam masala, which may not be regionally appropriate, but it is what I had, and this pork was delicious. This heavy dusting is necessary, and I let the belly sit in a Ziploc bag overnight, but that is optional. You can season this and then immediately move on to the next step. Where I wrapped the belly tightly in aluminum foil and put it into a 425 degree oven for 30 minutes, then turned the oven down to 300 degrees and cooked it for another 30 minutes. The meat is fully cooked and tender at this point, but personally, I like to crisp up my pork belly, and to do that, I wanna slice it. So I'm gonna let this cool down for a few minutes while we talk about bread. Bread is arguably the most important part of any sandwich, which can be frustrating for those of us cooking at home because it's often the thing we have the least control over. Unless you happen to live in a place with great bakeries, but even then, finding the particular type of bread to suit the sandwich you're making can be difficult. The good news is that banh mi, being a fusion of Southeast Asian flavors with a number of French components, uses baguette, which is generally easy to find, although often difficult, at least here in the US, to find in a high quality. And I was debating when I was thinking about this video whether or not to do a short bread tutorial, but to be honest, despite even having some professional experience making bread, I rarely make it at home. But these frozen mini baguettes I found at my local grocery store are surprisingly delicious and have the benefit of being warm when I want them to be. I sliced the belly into planks and then laid it back onto the foil. I cooked it in the broiler for 11 minutes. Broiling times vary enormously depending on your particular oven, but the goal is to crisp up the exterior of the slices, particularly this piece of fat on the top, as well as to render off as much of the fat as you can. If you don't have a broiler, a 450 degree oven will work nicely. Once the meat has crisped up, I coated it with a mixture of 80 grams of orange juice, three grams of fish sauce, 10 grams of a sriracha style hot sauce, and 15 grams of honey, and then put it back into the broiler for a few minutes to glaze onto the meat. And I mixed 50 grams of Kewpie mayo with 15 grams of the leftover glaze, which I drizzled onto the bread. This is definitely not an ideal sandwich mayo consistency, but it still adds the creaminess and mouthfeel you need. Then I added the meat, and then the marinated cucumber and vegetables, along with some fresh cilantro. If you haven't tried making or eating banh mi before, this may change your life. Anyway, that's all for me on this one. Thank you for watching, and I will see you soon.