Recipe: Bánh Mì Thịt Nướng (Lemongrass-marinated Barbecue Pork Bánh Mì)
Aromas fly everywhere in this flavorful lemongrass-marinated pork bánh mì
Flavorful and juicy pork shoulder is marinated in a medley of aromatics: lemongrass, garlic, ginger, and shallots. The sugar in the marinade caramelizes to create a nutty and deep flavor, and placed into a soft and crunchy bánh mì. Crunchy and bright đồ chua (pickled carrot and daikon, in this case), cucumber, green onion, jalapeño, and cilantro add to the party, and provide balance. A few dashes of Maggi seasoning sauce adds a burst of savory flavor, while a bit of sriracha provides some spicy and sweet notes.
Vegan and vegetarian eaters should check out Helen’s Recipes for a good vegan bánh mi recipe.
This recipe was originally developed by Helen Le of Helen’s Recipes. She’s where I go for Vietnamese cooking knowledge, and I recommend her large library of recipes if you want to dive deeper into Vietnamese cooking.
Learn more about the inspiration for this dish and the story behind it: Crispy Pillows for Everything Under the Sun
Learn more about why and how this dish works: Notes on Bánh Mì.
Active time: 30 minutes
Total time: 40 minutes
Yield: Serves two
Ingredients:
Bread:
2 Vietnamese bánh mì (You can substitute with bolillos/pan francés or light french baguettes, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Try to find a Vietnamese bakery in your area/city.)
Meat and marinade:
½ pound of pork shoulder, or ground pork
1 stalk of lemongrass
1 small shallot
2 garlic cloves
½ inch knob of ginger (optional)
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
½ Tbsp sugar
⅛ tsp five spice powder
black pepper
1 tsp chicken stock powder/granules (optional)
1 Tbsp sesame seeds (optional)
1 Tbsp nước màu (caramel sauce for color, you can substitute with molasses or coconut nectar)
pâté (pork liver spread, optional. Homemade is better, but you can buy it canned.)
For homemade mayo:
1 egg (use just the yolk for a richer color and flavor)
⅓ cup vegetable oil, or enough to make mayo thicken up
a pinch of salt
black pepper
1 tsp sugar (optional)
Sauces:
mayonnaise (either store-bought, or homemade)
Maggi seasoning sauce (if you don’t have this, use soy sauce)
sriracha (optional)
chili jam (optional)
Condiments:
cilantro
1 green onion
1 cucumber
1 small carrot (around the same size as the daikon, if possible)
1 small daikon
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp sugar
1 green chili pepper (optional, but not according to Vy Ưng’s mom)
Tools needed:
cutting board
serrated and non-serrated knife
a few bowls
Suggested directions:
Wash your hands and prepare your ingredients and tools.
Let’s start with the đồ chua (pickled carrot and daikon). Peel the daikon and carrot, and trim off the ends. I peel away from myself while rolling the vegetable around like so:
Slice the daikon and carrots into sheets. The width will determine how quickly the pickling will occur. I cut eighth inch sheets. To stabilize the cylindrical vegetables, slice off one side, then rotate it 90º, placing the flat side down on the cutting board.
Slice the sheets in half width-wise, then slice those half-sheets into matchsticks. The best way to do this in my experience is not to stack the sheets, but to spread them out onto the cutting board slightly layered.
Throw the daikon and carrot matchsticks into a bowl, and toss with around one teaspoon of salt. Set aside for 15 minutes.
Onto the marinade. Remove the top third or so of the lemongrass stalk, and remove one or two outer layers depending on their fragrance and dryness.
Peel the shallot and trim off any dry parts of the ginger. Roughly chop all of the aromatics.
Make a paste with the aromatics. A mortar and pestle works well, but if you’re lazy or don’t have one, you can use a food processor.
Thinly slice the pork shoulder. I put my meat in the freezer for 30-45 minutes before prepping to help with control and stability for thin slices. You may also roughly chop the meat into a mince.
Put the sliced/chopped meat into a bowl with the marinade ingredients: oyster sauce, fish sauce, aromatics paste, sugar, caramel sauce or honey, sesame seeds, chicken stock powder, five spice powder, and black pepper.
Mix everything together until the pork is evenly coated, cover, and set aside for a minimum of 15 minutes and preferably for an hour.
Now, let’s prep the condiments. Wash your herbs and veggies.
Trim the stem from the green chili and slice it thinly lengthwise or at an angle to make long and thin chili slices.
Trim the ends of the cucumber, and slice lengthwise or at an angle, similar to the chili.
Remove the root of the green onion. If the outer layer is dry and/or slimy, remove that too. Chop up the green onion into quarters width-wise, then slice into quarters again length-wise.
Chop up the herbs into 1-2 inch long pieces. Use the cilantro stem! It’s flavorful and adds a nice crunch.
At this point, the daikon and carrots should have a pool of water at the bottom of the bowl (10-15 minutes after tossing in salt). Drain that water, and wash the daikon and carrots a couple of times with cold water
Toss in some sugar and vinegar in equal parts, toss, then set asid
At this point, you can make your own mayonnaise, or you can just use store-bought mayo. I chose to make some by mixing an egg with a pinch of salt, some pepper, and whisking it for a long time. While whisking, slowly drip vegetable oil into the egg mixture. After a while, the egg and oil emulsion will start to form, becoming thiccer with more oil added. Make sure oil is added in slowly at the beginning, otherwise oil will not be dispersed properly throughout the egg.
Put a nonstick pan on medium high heat. The key is to caramelize the sugars in the marinated pork without burning them. Oil the pan and place the sliced pork into it, or if you used ground/minced pork, form small patties and put those in.
The pork will be done pretty quickly (~5-7 minutes), so make sure to monitor the caramelization and get some nice color on it.
Toast the bánh mì and cut it open leaving the corners intact. Organize the ingredients to create a little bánh mì factory with the bread, sauces, fillings, and condiments. I also like to rip out some bread crumb to leave more room for fillings. I eat it with some pâté or butter later on.
Layer the bánh mì however you’d like. Start with pâté (optional), mayo, sriracha, and a few dashes of Maggi seasoning sauce (or soy sauce). I cover one side of the bánh mì with mayo, and the other with pâté after dashing some Maggi on to soak into the bread.
Layer on some cucumber and chilis.
Layer on the aromatic caramelized pork slices/patties.
Put some đồ chua (pickled carrot and daikon) on top. Then finish it with some fragrant herbs. I put on green onions, cilantro, and rau răm (Vietnamese coriander).
To make it more compact and jaw-friendly, take a knife and press the ingredients into the sandwich, closing it. Unhinge your jaw and dig in!
Extension: Bánh mì is a highly customizable food. Feel free to add more herbs like basil, or omit things you don’t like. I’d say my extension is actually a different recipe with bì (pork skin with roasted pork and rice powder), salted duck egg, pâté, and chà bông (pork floss).