bánh mi (ingredient) - Vietnamese baguettes are an evolution from their French predecessors. Lighter, more airy, and crispier than French baguettes, they absorb seasoning well and compress to leave room for fillings. Dough improvers are often used to strengthen gluten in the crumb. Lots of kneading also contributes to the development of gluten to provide an even, stretchy crumb. At its core, this bread dough consists of flour, water, yeast, and salt. Bánh mì is kneaded extensively to develop a regular and well-developed gluten network within the dough, resulting in small and consistent gas bubbles throughout the crumb and a nice stretch. Water is sprayed onto the surface of the bánh mì, as well as into the oven to moisturize the outer crust. This helps create a more golden brown color and a shiny gloss, and heats the crust quickly while keeping it moist.
đồ chua (pickled stuff) (ingredient) - Pickled vegetables are often found in bánh mì as a crunchy and briny condiment. Often bánh mì will contain pickled daikon and carrots that are pickled in a sweet and vinegary brine. These provide a bright sour and sweet taste, as well as a solid crunch to balance other fillings. These pickled vegetables are prepared by salting julienned vegetables for some time, washing off the excess salt, then soaking the vegetables in a vinegar, water, and sugar solution. The salt extracts moisture from the vegetables and concentrates their flavor, while also leaving more room in the vegetable’s cells for liquid in the brine to occupy. Also, some salt contains mineral impurities such as calcium and magnesium that help strengthen cell walls, making them more crisp.
nước mắm (ingredient) - Nước mắm is a Vietnamese fish sauce made from various types of fish. It has a distinctive odor and flavor, and contains a lot of salt. It’s used to make nước mắm chấm, a sweetened and seasoned dipping sauce with lime juice, sugar, water, and sometimes garlic and chilis. Nước mắm chấm goes well with certain bánh mì sandwiches and flavor combinations. There is a high concentration of amino acids in nước mắm, packing it with savory flavor from amino acids like glutamic acid (MSG) among others.
cilantro, green onions, herbs (ingredient) - Cilantro has a distinct grassy taste often described as soapy or waxy. Green onion provides crispness, especially when pre-soaked in cold water. Both provides a bright and fresh contrast to rich fillings in bánh mì sandwiches.
cucumber (ingredient) - Cucumbers provide a crunchy and cool element to the flavor stack of the sandwich. They have a uniquely fresh aroma and play well to balance saltiness and richness from sauces and meat fillings. My favorite application of cucumbers in this context is in the Bánh Mì Trứng Ốp Lết recipe where it provides temperature, flavor, and textural contrast to the steamy and fluffy omelet.
chili (ingredient) - Chilis are a nightshade vegetable native to the Americas that have heat and a crunch. Slices of chili provide balance to fillings, much like the pickles, cucumber, and herbs. Some Vietnamese people view chilis as required in their sandwich.
mayonnaise (ingredient) - Mayo is a rich and creamy emulsion that provides moisture and flavor to the bread. The richness of the egg yolk and oil, along with sugar in the Vietnamese version provides flavor and fat.
julienne (technique) - Vegetables are cut into consistently sized sticks for the pickle. Julienne provides consistency and a specific shape to vegetables and herbs. In this case, carrots and daikon are sliced into sheets, and then laid out and sliced into sticks. The width and height of these sticks depends on the thickness of the initial cut, and the secondary cut. For this pickle, thinner cuts will result in faster absorption of the brine and quicker loss of crunchy texture. The vegetable can be cut into chopstick or matchstick sized sticks, depending on the desired texture and mouthfeel.
Maggi seasoning sauce, soy sauce (ingredient) - Both Maggi seasoning sauce and soy sauce are rich in amino acids, including glutamic acid, that give it rich and savory flavor. A splash at the end provides a burst of salty savory flavor that percolates throughout the bread and elevates the entire experience. There’s also a medley of flavor and aroma compounds in both sauces that provide browned, roasted, and nutty notes that add to the meaty taste of the sandwich.
evolution (concept) - Food is constantly evolving due to usually quite human pressures. Changes in proximity to certain ingredients or cultures can cause drastic changes in cuisines. In this case, French colonists forced their way into Vietnam, and brought bread with them. These baguettes were sometimes cut with rice flour because of reduced access to wheat flour. Also, dough improvers were used to even further strengthen the gluten networks within the dough to make the crumb even lighter and more consistent with ample kneading. This is just one example of food evolving with its circumstances. I like to highlight the fact that chilis hadn’t entered Korean cuisine until the 16th century. The first recorded presence of chilis in kimchi was in A.D. 1715 in the Sallimkyongje. Korean kimchi and cuisine without chilis was the norm before then. This example is among many that shows just how modern and quickly evolving food really is.
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