Bus Station Saigon Sandwiches
Submitted by kokopuff
A vibrant Vietnamese-style banh mi stuffed with sliced pork, pate, grated carrots, cucumber, cilantro, jalapeno, and a punchy fish sauce and chili garlic dressing. No cooking required.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
5 minREADY
20 minStreet food doesn’t get much better than a proper banh mi, and this one captures the spirit of Saigon’s bus station vendors.
A crusty French baguette gets split open and loaded with cold sliced pork tenderloin, a smear of pate, sauteed shallots, grated carrots, thin cucumber, fresh cilantro, and chopped jalapeno.
The real magic is the sauce: fish sauce, chili garlic sauce, lime juice, and sugar stirred together until balanced between salty, sour, sweet, and fiery.
Drizzle as much or as little as your heat tolerance allows. Twenty minutes, no stove needed.
Kitchen Tips
- Use day-old baguette if you can find it. A slightly stale crust holds up better against all the wet fillings and sauce.
- Slice the pork as thin as possible. Paper-thin cold cuts stack and fold inside the bread much better than thick slabs.
- The sauce recipe makes enough for 3 to 4 sandwiches. Scale it up if you’re feeding a crowd.
- Pile the vegetables high. The crunch of raw carrot and cucumber against the rich pate and pork is what makes this sandwich sing.
Ingredients
Directions
Slice the roll open leaving the ends intact to create a pocket.
Put in pate, pork, and shallots. Pile on the rest of the veggies.
To make the sauce: mix the garlic sauce, lime juice, sugar, and nuoc mam (fish sauce) until the sugar is disolved. This is enough for 3 to 4 sandwiches.
The heat is in the sauce. Add according to your fortitude, disposition, or world view.
Comments
