A Banh Mi Secret

Of all the novelties that the French have brought to Vietnam during colonial times, Banh Mi stands out the most. Not fitting into any food category, Banh Mi can either be enjoyed as a snack or a meal. Literally translated as “bread wheat”, Banh Mi has a baguette as its base together with ever-changing layers of fillings such as vegetables, meat, herbs, and sauce. There is no limitation in creating a Banh Mi, and the way people customize it says a lot about where they come from as each region has a different idea of what to put inside a baguette. The most popular version of Banh Mi, however, comes from the South, particularly from Saigon, since many Saigonese fled the Fall of Saigon in 1975 and took with them the Saigon-version Banh Mi to many corners of the world. The secret of making the best Saigonese Banh Mi lies in the combination of various textures. Here is a four-step recipe with simple and easy-to-find ingredients.

Firstly, not every bread makes good Banh Mi. A perfect Banh Mi calls for short crunchy French baguettes, which are both crispy and soft. However, we can always substitute it with a 7-inch section from a long baguette (Nguyen, 2009). A good baguette should be hollow enough to serve as a pouch for the fillings, and feel free to carve out a bit if the baguette happens to be quite solid. Unlike sandwich and hamburger bread which are split all the way, the Banh Mi baguette only needs a split lengthwise. Hence, save the splitting for later when all the ingredients are ready.

Next, we begin with the pickled daikon and carrots. Those give Banh Mi a fresh flavor and crunchiness. Daikons, white radish, as well as carrots should be large enough to be cut into matchsticks five to seven centimeter each (remember to wash and peel them before cutting). After that, we squeeze the water out of the vegetables to keep them crunchy and make them last longer. Place them on a colander to drain all excess water. Next, we prepare the pickling liquid by adding white vinegar, sugar, and salt to a bowl of warm water. Continue by soaking the vegetables in the liquid mixture for one hour before eating. Perfect pickled daikons and carrots should have a sweet and sour flavor, as well as crunchiness, and not be very tangy. Keep in mind that the water from the pickle can make the baguette soggy, to avoid that, take them out of the pickling liquid and let them rest on a colander. Then comes the meat, which happens to be the most flexible part of a Banh Mi. A standard Banh Mi includes roasted pork, dried pork (cha bong), and Vietnamese-style ham (cha lua) which the last two can be easily found in any local Asian markets. Roasted pork, on the other hand, works better when made at home. As Duckor (2015) suggested:

Start by rubbing down a cut of pork tenderloin with a mix of Chinese five-spice, salt, and pepper. Then, in a bit of hot olive oil, sear and brown all sides of the tenderloin until it reaches an internal temp of 145°F, about 20–25 minutes.

Once we get everything ready, we can start assembling the Banh Mi. Definitely, there is still a secret to make the Banh Mi even tastier. Homemade pate and mayonnaise, which are different from manufactured pate and jarred mayonnaise, help create an ideal Banh Mi Vietnam. Alternatively, we can find pate and mayonnaise which are as good as homemade in local Asian markets. Finally, it is time for layering. Begin by splitting a baguette lengthwise and slather the inside with pate, and then mayonnaise. Next, place the meat along the length, whether it is roasted pork slices, jambons or sausages, dried pork or Vietnamese-style ham. Then come pickled daikons and carrots. Those who prefer more greens can also add fresh sliced cucumbers. Complete our Banh Mi by adding some drizzles of Maggi sauce (found in local Asian markets as well), a few cilantro sprigs and some hot chili slices (optional). Now cut it in half and enjoy!

Following a four-step recipe, we now have a tasty result as Pauline Nguyen described:

Beautiful balance of the sweet and piquant of pickled vegetable, the heat of chilies, and richness of the pâté and mayonnaise, along with the unctuousness of the pork terrine, the aromas of the coriander and spring onion, and of course the texture of crisp baguette. (Lam, 2015)

Banh Mi is constantly changing, and people are getting more creative with it, inventing many fancy and foreign versions. Despite what ingredients are used, Banh Mi always stands out as a remarkable symbol of Vietnamese, or at least, Saigon cuisine.