Bánh Mì

Bánh mì is a rather complex sandwich, with a deep history. Dating back to the 1950's, the sandwich came about using a mixture of French and Vietnamese ingredients. The goal of the sandwich was to keep the ingredients held together for easy transport, but the story goes much deeper than that, where the Vietnamese for a time could only use French ingredients. Eventually, the sandwich came to be as the French and Vietnamese ingredients were used together.

The first time I had bánh mì was at an outdoor event where a local vendor had a booth set up. I sat in the grass on a pretty summer day enjoying the sun and the flavors of the stacked sandwich. The recipe is actually rather straightforward. Rather than complex cooking, it just requires a stack ingredients.

I marinated the chicken in a mixture of sesame oil, honey, and rice wine vinegar (though apple cider vinegar would work fine). Though I only let the chicken sit for about 30 minutes, it is amazing what a quick marinade can do. I chose to use chicken breast for this recipe because I had some ready to cook but generally chicken thighs are used.

I feel like chicken thighs aren't always appreciated for their full, flavorful potential. I'm sure if you click though a few recipes you'll find chicken breasts used constantly, so I'm guilty of it, too. But don't shy away from chicken thighs, especially in slow cookers or in marinades. And side note: while prepping this, I couldn't help but think that tofu would also work well here. 

I cut the chicken into cubes and marinated it in a mixture of sesame oil, hoisin, soy sauce, garlic, and honey, then cooked it in a skillet.

Pickled carrots were a must, and required just a simple rice wine vinegar mixture and an hour to soak. As fate would have it, my friend recently had given me a jar of homemade pickled onions, which became an ideal supporting act on this sandwich.

The other toppings were cucumber slices, fresh jalapeños, sliced radishes, and fresh cilantro.

All in all, the variety of toppings made a bite of this sandwich full of crunch and flavor. 

The marinade worked out really well on the chicken, and I'll say it again: I bet this would be an excellent tofu sandwich. I'm not much of a mayonnaise person, so I passed on that part. Really, toppings can be swapped and changed as desired, but I think the cucumber, jalapeño, carrots, and cilantro are musts. The simplicity of this dish was fairly astonishing, once I got to really make it. 10/10, worth trying at home. Lunch, dinner, leftovers...you got it. Of course, this lady took the photos one morning and therefore, I can now say bánh mí can be breakfast, too.

Bánh Mí Recipe

Ingredients:

2-3 chicken breasts (or thighs)

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 garlic cloves, minced (or 2 teaspoons minced garlic)

1 carrot, cut into matchsticks

1/4 cup sugar

1/8 cup rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon salt

1 cup hot water

1 small cucumber, sliced thin

2 jalapeños, sliced thin

1 radish, sliced thin

1/2 cup of cilantro

1/4 cup pickled onions 

1 baguette

1-2 tablespoons mayonnaise (optional)

 

Instructions:

Cut the chicken into cubes. Mix sesame oil, honey, hoisin, soy sauce, and garlic together in a bowl. Add chicken and allow to marinate for at least an hour. Mix hot water, sugar, salt, and rice wine vinegar together in a bowl, then add carrots and allow to sit for one hour. Heat a large skillet over medium-high and add one tablespoon of cooking oil. Sauté the marinated chicken for about 7-10 minutes, until cooked throughout. Drain the pickled carrots. Slice open the baguette and lightly spread mayonnaise inside if desired. Add chicken as a base. Top with cucumber, jalapeño, radish, carrots, pickled onions, and cilantro.

Slice open the baguette and scoop out some of the soft bread inside to create more room for the sandwich fillings.

adapted from simple banh mí