The Banh Mi that Ruined Every Other Sandwich for Me

This tofu banh mi might just be the best sandwich I've ever had. It's got the perfect combination of spicy, savory, and salty, it's chewy and crisp, and it just tastes so fresh and addictive. And the reason why is because it features six different components that all work together in perfect harmony. The first element of our sandwich is the pickled carrots and daikon radish, also known as do chua in Vietnamese. It's going to add a sweet, sour, fresh crunch that really nicely balances the richer and saltier elements of the sandwich. In case you're not familiar with daikon radish, you can find it at Asian grocery stores as well as some well-stocked supermarkets. I like to start off by slicing the daikon crosswise into two to three inch pieces, and then slicing them into slabs or planks like this. From here, you can stack a couple pieces and slice them into matchsticks like so. And then just do the same thing for the carrots. Once you have your vegetables prepped, it's time to massage them with salt. And you want to massage this for about two minutes. This is going to draw out some of the excess moisture in the vegetables so you don't get a watered down pickle brine. It's also going to give you that ideal soft yet crunchy texture. You're looking for the vegetables to be glistening. You should start to see a fair amount of liquid pooling at the bottom like this. At this point, you can stop massaging and let this rest for 15 minutes. Then we'll give the vegetables a good rinse to get rid of that excess salt, and squeeze out as much water as you reasonably can. And then pack these tightly into a glass jar. Now for the pickling brine, we've got our usual suspects. Water, distilled white vinegar, salt, and sugar. Vietnamese pickles are on the sweeter side, so don't be shy with the sugar. And make sure it's fully dissolved before pouring it over the vegetables. If you can wait a day for these to pickle in the fridge, they'll be best then. But honestly, even after an hour or two in the fridge, these are quite delicious. The next component in the sandwich is the pate, and I'm delighted to report that this version with mushrooms and walnuts is so delicious. I even eat it by the spoon, that's how good it is. This is 8 ounces of cremini mushrooms, but really any mushroom variety will do. And once you've cleaned off any little dirt spots, just give them a slice. We'll also dice one small yellow onion. And for the garlic, no need to chop it. Just smash down to remove the peels and to slightly flatten the cloves. Walnuts are gonna give our pate lots of rich, savory, umami-heavy flavors. And I just like to break them up into pieces so that they toast evenly. We're gonna get a large frying pan over medium heat. Let it heat up for a couple minutes. And this is my go-to frying pan. It's the 12-inch stainless steel frying pan from Made In, who is the sponsor of today's video. I use this pan for pretty much everything. To sear vegetables, to cook proteins, to pan-fry a crispy taco from time to time, even to toast bread because after all these years, I still do not own a toaster for some reason. And I love it because it's made with 5-ply stainless steel. That's pretty unique, most pans are made with 3-ply. And in my experience, it just means that when I'm cooking, it retains heat really well, I can control the heat level really well. It just, it just works like a dream. Another great thing is that it's completely non-reactive, so you don't have to worry about weird chemicals or metals leaching into your food and making you grow a third arm. Although thinking about it, having a third arm would actually be quite useful in the kitchen. And maybe also a fourth arm. I've been using these pans for years because honestly, they're good enough for restaurant kitchens, but they're designed for home cooks like myself. They last a super long time, really durable. So definitely check out the stainless steel collection and all of my other favorite cookware from Made In by scanning this QR code or checking the link in the description box below. Now that our pan is hot, go ahead and add a couple tablespoons of oil, followed by the diced onions. And these need three to four minutes to soften. And then you can toss in the smashed garlic and the walnut pieces. Be sure to stir often at this point so nothing burns. And within five minutes, you should start to see the walnuts golden brown, they should smell toasty, and the onions should have some color on them. So you can take this off the heat and then just wipe out the pan. Now for the mushrooms, I'm cooking them over medium high heat. We're looking to draw out the moisture from the mushrooms so that we concentrate the flavor. It should take five to eight minutes to look like this. And then you can reduce the heat to low and add in the spice blend. Now stir constantly for 15 to 20 seconds at the most, and then take this off the heat. All right, it is time to blend the pate. So everything we just cooked in the pan is going to go into a food processor, along with a cup of cooked lentils, which will bulk this up a bit, give it some extra nutrition and texture. And for the flavorings, we've got a tablespoon and a half of soy sauce and just a little bit of brown sugar. Just blend this into a smooth consistency until it looks like, well, pate. Give it a quick taste and see if it needs any adjustments. Perfection. By the way, this stuff will stay good in the fridge for about five days, so you can definitely make this in advance. The centerpiece of our banh mi is a chili lemongrass glazed tofu. While it's not traditional, it is a very fun plant-based version that works great with all the other flavors in the sandwich, and I think you will love it. Start by weighing out 24 ounces of tofu. And depending on the size of your blocks, you might have a little excess for snacking later. Starting on the shorter ends, you want to slice each block into six slabs, about two-thirds inch thick. To ensure that our tofu ends up flavorful, we're going to give it a little pre-treatment with the hot salt water soak method. We're heating up some water until it's boiling and then stirring in salt to dissolve. Wasn't expecting that. Pouring that mixture over the tofu and letting it rest for 10 minutes. The hot salt water is actually going to draw excess moisture from inside the tofu, similar to if you were pressing the tofu, but it's also going to season the tofu from within so you end up with tofu that's a lot more flavorful. While the tofu soaks, you're going to finely chop four fat garlic cloves and then grate or mince a knob of fresh ginger. Now, I know I said this is a chili lemongrass glazed tofu, but lemongrass unfortunately can be a little difficult to find, so if you don't have access to it, just skip it. It's still going to be great. Remove these tough outer layers on the lemongrass and then lop off the top two-thirds or so. You want to use this bottom part of the stalk. It should feel softer and kind of bendy. I like to smash down on the lemongrass because it releases more of its bright citrusy oils and aromas and then from here, I just mince it up. The glaze for our tofu is very simple. It's just two tablespoons each of sriracha and soy sauce and then four teaspoons each of brown sugar and lime juice. It's spicy, savory, sweet, and tangy all in one glaze. When it is time to drain the tofu, you can just use a slotted spoon to transfer it to a clean towel and be sure to pat dry very well so our tofu isn't wet when we go to cook it. All right, I've got my same stainless steel frying pan heating over medium high for several minutes. You'll know it is hot enough when you can drop a bead of water on it and it glides across the pan like so. Add in the oil and then turn down the heat just a touch so the oil doesn't smoke and then carefully add in your tofu. Don't fuss with it, especially in the first few minutes. Eventually, the tofu will loosen itself from the pan and you'll be able to flip it quite easily. After six to eight minutes of frying, the bottoms should have a golden brown crust like this so it is time to flip and then just cook this for another four to seven minutes before transferring the tofu to some paper towels just to get rid of that excess oil. You should have a little bit of oil left in the pan. If you don't, just add a drizzle more and return the pan to medium low heat. Add in the ginger, garlic, and lemongrass and stir frequently for about 90 seconds or two minutes. Pour in the glaze and let it sizzle and cook down for about two minutes. Now that the glaze has thickened a bit, it's time to add back our tofu. Now how bad does that look? Yum! Now it's time for the bread and in Vietnamese, banh mi also refers to wheat bread so it's the sandwich as well as the bread. This is not a French baguette. It is lighter in area with a crackly crust and it has a soft fluffy interior. You can find these at Vietnamese supermarkets and some Vietnamese restaurants as well. If you don't have access to either of these, do not worry. There are tons of options you can use like a French or Italian loaf or ciabatta rolls or hoagie rolls. I'm slicing the bread hot dog style so basically along the length of the bread. I like to lightly toast the bread in the oven and that way you get a nice little crisp texture contrast. While the bread is in the oven, we can work on our umami mayo. Just three ingredients, 30 seconds of your time. For the umami part of the mayo, I'm gonna use a little bit of Bragg's liquid aminos. This isn't necessarily traditional but it does taste quite similar to what is traditionally used which is Maggie seasoning and it's rich and savory and salty. And then just lots of black pepper. Assembly time! Start by generously spreading the umami mayo across both sides of the bread followed by a scoop of the pate on both sides. Then stack on the glazed tofu followed by some pickled carrots and daikon. Cilantro sprigs are very traditional, kind of a must but if you hate cilantro, you can just stick with fresh mint which is really lovely here. And then some sliced chilies because I like things with a kick. It's so pretty! Eating time! This sandwich is unreal. It's got all the best flavors. Spicy, sweet, savory, salty, all in one bite. So many fun textures. You can get the full recipe for this tofu banh mi on my website. Scan this QR code or check the link in the description box below. Thank you so much for watching and I'll see you in the next one. Bye!