Bánh Mì is the greatest sammich on God’s Green Earth. Change my mind.

Or not, because this is my unwavering opinion and I am sticking to it.

But really though. How can you compete with a flavor bomb of pickled daikon radish and carrots, cucumber, cilantro, jalapeño, and your choice of sammich meat (I personally love grilled ginger chicken), encapsulated by crispy-soft Vietnamese-French baguette smothered in rich butter, liver pate, and a hint of mayo?

I’m actually breathless just thinking about it.

I found this lovely recipe for Vietnamese-French baguettes on YouTube; thankfully, Helen also posted the instructions on her blog. In addition to creating a steamy oven for crispy bread, the key is shaping the baguette into thin logs– a technique that I have yet to pin down. Nevertheless, even if your baguettes end up looking pudgy and short instead of slim and long, the result is an airy bread with a satisfying crunchy exterior.

Also on this recipe, I improvised with mild kimchi because I couldn’t find pre-made pickled daikon and carrots at my local Asian grocer. But this adjustment ended up being my favorite part. Thank you for your amazing food, Korea and Vietnam. We love you.

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Ingredients

For the baguette
1.5 tsp yeast
3/4 cup warm water
2 cups AP flour, divided
1 tsp salt

For the sammich fixins
Cucumber, thinly sliced
Jalapeño, thinly sliced
Mild white kimchi
A few sprigs of cilantro
2 tsp liver pate, to taste
A smear of butter
A bit of mayo (optional)
Choice of meat (like grilled chicken, fried tofu, Vietnamese pork chops, etc)

Instructions

1. Set aside a morning, this bread’s gonna take about 3-4 hours after all the rises.
2. Bloom yeast in warm water and feed it a pinch of sugar, until visibly foamy.
3. In a bowl, add 1 cup of flour and your activated yeast mixture. Let this mixture ferment for about 2 hours.
4. Add second cup of flour and salt. Start kneading, until dough is that familiar “done” smooth texture. Shape dough into a ball and let rise in a large bowl for about 1 hour, or until double in size.
5. Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces, then it gets a little weird– turn the dough inside out, and pinch it into itself to form a little dough ball. Smooth the ball out and let each ball rest for about 10 minutes.
6. Slap the dough a couple of times on your work area and flatten each dough ball into a rectangle. Roll it up into a log, and pinch the sides and the seam shut. Do this for the other two dough pieces, and then proof for 1 more hour.
7. Place a casserole pan filled with hot water on the bottom row of the oven, and a baking sheet on the top row. Preheat oven to 450ºF.
8. Place the baguettes on parchment paper. Using a sharp knife, cut a long slash on each dough.
9. Take the preheated baking sheet from the oven, and carefully place the parchment paper with the baguettes on top. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
10. Let bread cool, and place your bánh mì ingredients on a cutting board for easy assembly.
11. Butter the bread, and smear liver pate and mayo on each side. Add your choice sammich protein, then pile on kimchi, cucumber, jalapeño slices, and cilantro. Enjoy!

Hope y’all had a wonderful weekend. Tackle this upcoming work week with gusto.

Until the next post, wear masks in public and don’t lick hospital beds.

-Mimi 🙂