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There are two popular foods in the Viet repertoire — things that whether you're an insider or outsider, you know and love: pho noodle soup and banh mi sandwiches. They both appeared in the Vietnamese culinary scene around the turn of the 20th century, and are a mix of Eastern and Westnern cultures, the embodiment of Vietnam. We were fusion and hybrid before those terms were applied to food and cars!
Banh mi baguette sandwiches have been tweaked countless ways over the years, with Jalapenos added in the U.S., for example. What we know now as banh mi was originally a southern Vietnamese (Saigon) version. Folks like my mother and father knew banh mi as warm baguette with pate or just salt and pepper!
I've written in the past about new incarnations of Vietnamese banh mi and many of you have chimed in. Now, New Yorkers are getting a dose of nouveau banh mi. While there are traditional versions of banh mi sandwiches in Chinatown, in hipster places like Brooklyn and other locales, you'll find crazy new ones filled with the ingredients for pho, sloppy Joes, and even polish sausages. Last week, New York Times reporter Julia Moskin and I chatted about the evolution of banh mi in New York City for her story:
Notes: For homemade banh mi, Julia included a recipe for pickled daikon and carrot from my book, Into the Vietnamese Kitchen.
Mayo or butter? One of the things that Julia and I discussed was the use of mayonnaise versus butter to moisten the bread. I prefer whole fat, whole egg mayonnaise, and some folks gussy it up with butter. In Vietnam, butter is very expensive but you can easily make good mayonnaise with fresh eggs and oil, readily available ingredients. Are you a mayo or butter person?
Old or new? Your thoughts on traditional versus 'new' banh mi?
For a final shout out — note how both Cathy Danh of Gastronomy Blog and I were both included in the story. Very cool.
Use the banh mi recipe to make your own!
Gastronomer
April 8, 2009 at 10:12 amThanks for the shout-out, Ms. Nguyen! I think nouveau banh mi is a fantastic idea. They’ve yet to come to my part of town, but I did taste a bratwurst filled banh mi in Saigon that was awesome. As long as there’s a good mix of old and new, I’ll be a happy eater. The classic banh mi will always have a special place in my culinary heart though.
Michele Morris
April 8, 2009 at 12:33 pmI’m of the mindset that there is a place for BOTH tradition as well as nouveau versions of lots of different recipes and cuisines. I cook alot of variations starting with the “idea” of a certain dish, but using whatever ingredients I have on hand or have access to. Wish I had had the opportunity to meet you in Denver last week – I was on the IACP host committee for the event!
Kelly
April 8, 2009 at 3:11 pmI came across an interesting site this afternoon: http://battleofthebanhmi.com/
Andrea Nguyen
April 8, 2009 at 9:57 pmHowdy, banh mi gals!
Cathy, did you have the bratwurst banh mi at one of the beer gardens in Saigon? Sounds like it would go well with the brewski.
Michele, sorry to have missed you! We’ll have to connect in Portland.
Kelly, Oh yes — That’s Diane and Todd’s (white on rice couple) site. Very very very good work the do.
Grrr… makes me hungry though it’s close to bed time.
RecipeOfTheWeek
April 13, 2009 at 1:37 pmI love the Banh Mi revolution that is taking over NYC! I think there’s definitely room for more Banh Mi establishments to go around the east coast though. I wish Lee’s Sandwiches existed here in NYC. The Southern CA locations make the most French baguettes! There’s such a huge difference in the texture of the baguette between both coasts. CA tends to resemble more of the authentic French baguette due to it’s light/airy quality. Whereas, the French baguette in the east coast tends to be soft/chewy. Some say the difference is in the water. However, neither is better than the other. It’s all a matter of personal preference, I suppose. What do you think?
Andrea Nguyen
April 14, 2009 at 1:43 pmThere’s fabulous bread on the East Coast but why no decent light baguette for NYC banh mi? What are the Cubano sandwiches being made with? It must be a fallout with the popularity of the hoagie — soft roll.
Annie N
April 16, 2009 at 10:53 amI like both the mayo and the butter, though not together in the same sandwich. The mayo definitely has to be homemade…it just tastes way better. And if I’m slathering on the butter, that requires a drizzle of Maggi. Call me crazy, but a banh mi sandwich with butter is really enhanced with Maggi.
Lips
April 20, 2009 at 4:00 amI am so inspired to make my own banh mi now. regretted not eating more of it when i was in canada as i didn’t like sandwiches at that time but the one time i had it, it blew me away. can you post recipes for banh mi fillings?
Hanh T
April 20, 2009 at 2:33 pmI prefer homemade mayo, while my parents like a soft French butter with Maggi. They swear the Maggi made in Europe is better than that made in China. I really can’t tell the difference.
I don’t know if this is “nouveau” or not, but we also like to used canned sardines (the Maroc brand) as a banh mi filling. I never used to like sardines, but mash these up in the baguette, add do chua, and you’re all set!
Guest
June 6, 2009 at 6:05 pmI liked how that article totally ignored Orange County, CA and proceeded to give a shout out to less notable Vietnamese enclaves.
paulski
June 13, 2009 at 6:53 amCan a Chicken Liver Pate (with all the ingredients used in the Vietnamese pork pate (sans the pork…)work? As a standard spread, not he main ingredient.
Thank you.
Andrea Nguyen
June 15, 2009 at 9:58 amPaulski — sure, chicken liver pate would work just fine. In fact, the liver pate I make is prepared with chicken liver! You’re looking for that savory, livery, minerally quality.
paulski
June 18, 2009 at 2:00 pmThank you Andrea! Would you consider including the gizzards in the chopped chicken liver paté? And the extra garlic and 5-spice, absolutely necessary if I want the real deal?
I can’t find headcheese nor vietnamese ham; what readily available ingredients (in supermarkets or food suppliers) would be adequate (perfect?) substitutes for these?
Thanks again.
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