A bánh mì is a sandwich that shows the happy influence of the French on Vietnamese cooking. Take a French picnic favorite, sliced roasted meat or cold cuts on a fresh baguette smeared with butter, and pack it with a wild tangle of mandoline-cut raw vegetables and whole herbs. Coat the vegetable- herb salad in a dressing made from crushed garlic, raw sugar, vinegar, lime juice, chiles and fish sauce.
When I was corporate chef for Udi’s Breads in Denver (if it wasn’t associated with another, better-known sandwich shop, I would have appropriated the title “sandwich artist”), I created my version of a bánh mì. The sandwich was conceived for the opening of Udi’s on Broadway, where the spectacle was the artisan bread that was shaped, mixed and baked during lunch service. The excellent natural-starter baguettes, which are rivaled in this country only by Acme’s and La Brea’s, were shaped by hand and came out of the oven minutes before lunch started.
We used a good-quality roasted pork butt marinated in garlic and five-spice powder, and topped it with a salad of daikon radish sprouts, mint, and chopped roasted peanuts along with the customary bánh mì vegetables. We toasted the interior of the bread so it was crispy and warmed the sliced pork; we served a little extra dipping sauce on the side.
When we make this sandwich at home we use the unique dipping sauce recipe Yasmin learned while working with Gary Robins at Aja — the ingredients are not simply mixed together like most Vietnamese dipping sauce recipes; the garlic is crushed in a mortar with raw sugar and whisked in with the remaining ingredients; the sauce is briefly brought to a boil.
Vietnamese Pork Sandwiches
Makes 4.
Ingredients
FOR PORK:
3 tablespoons canola oil
6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon five-spice powder
1 pork butt, about 1 1/2 pounds
FOR DIPPING SAUCE:
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons raw sugar
1 fresh jalapeño, sliced thin
6 tablespoons fish sauce
juice of half a lime
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
FOR SANDWICHES:
1 large baguette or 4 small baguettes or French rolls
1 medium carrot, peeled and shredded on a mandoline
1 medium cucumber, preferably English or Japanese, shredded on a mandoline
24 cilantro leaves, stems included
16 mint leaves
1 cup daikon sprouts
4 tablespoons chopped roasted peanuts
3 tablespoons soft butter
6 ounces pate, or to taste
Directions
Roasting the Pork:
At least 6 hours before serving, mix together the oil, garlic, salt, and five-spice powder in a stainless bowl or baking dish and coat the pork in it. Refrigerate until 1 hour before cooking.
Preheat oven to 275. Wipe garlic from the pork, heat a little additional oil in a medium saute pan, and brown the pork all over. Transfer the pork to a baking dish with a small rack set in it. Bake for about 1 hour, or to an internal temperature (measured with an instant-read thermometer) of 140.
Allow to rest at least 30 minutes before slicing. Slice as thinly as possible, adding a little more salt if necessary.
For the Dipping Sauce:
In a mortar and pestle, crush the garlic with the sugar. Add the jalapeño to the mortar and lightly crush it. Transfer the mixture to a small pot, stir in the remaining ingredients, and bring to a boil. Cool completely before using.
To assemble the sandwich:
Preheat broiler. Slice the baguette or rolls in half horizontally. Warm the pork for about 4 minutes. Toast the bread until lightly golden. Mix together the vegetables and peanuts with one-third of the dipping sauce. Butter the interior of the bread and cover with the paste. Arrange the sliced pork in a neatly overlapping row on the bottom piece of the bread. Top with the vegetables and remaining bread. Serve immediately with dipping sauce on the side.
