Question: Is banh mi the very best sandwich in the world? Answer: Um, hell yes!
Vietnamese food is very much my bag, and this is easily the king of all sandwiches. We're lucky that they are readily available here in Melbourne (usually costing no more than $8 and making a very decent lunch!) but I wanted to perfect my own recipe too. This has spicy lemongrass pork meatballs (also awesome in bun cha: https://www.emscreativekitchen.com/post/bun-cha) and fresh, crunchy veg all tied together beautifully with spicy Sriracha and cooling mayo. Give it a go!
Serves 2
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes
Ingredients
2 tiger rolls or crusty baguettes
2 tbsp pâté
1 carrot, peeled and julienned
1/2 Lebanese cucumber, deseeded and sliced into matchsticks (I cut my cucumber in half lengthways then use a teaspoon to scoop out the watery seed part)
1 red chili, thinly sliced
Handful of fresh herbs (I had coriander, mint and spring onions)
Sriracha, to serve
Kewpie mayo, to serve
For the meatballs:
250g pork mince
1 stalk lemongrass, finely diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp Sriracha
1 tsp caster sugar
Pinch of salt
Method:
Prepare the meatballs first. Add all ingredients into a large bowl and use your hands to mix it all together. Form the mixture into 8 meatballs.
Heat oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over high heat. Add the meatballs in a single layer (don't crowd them) and leave them to cook for around 3 minutes. Use tongs to turn them and cook the bottoms for 3 minutes. They probably won't quite be cooked through at this point, but now that the shape is set I like to gently toss them in the frying pan to get all the sides golden as well.
Slice open your rolls and spread each one with pâté. Load them up with carrot and cucumber and add 4 meatballs to each. Top with chili, herbs and drizzle with Sriracha and mayo. Dig in!
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