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Vietnamese Bahn Mi

Vietnamese Banh Mi​

with lemongrass beef

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Banh Mi or Vietnamese baguette - this unique sandwich, a combination of France and Vietnam, brings me to two countries at the same time. First, it is Denmark and its capital, Copenhagen, where I have tried Lemongrass Beef Banh Mi for the first time and I loved it - it was back in 2015. And then, Vietnam, which I was super lucky to visit in January 2020. We tried various fillings (grilled pork, cheese, pate, veggies, sunny side egg, scrambled eggs…) in Saigon, on the coconut plantation in Mekong Delta or in the Cat Tien National Park. The lemongrass beef is still my favourite, that is why I am trying to make it at home now. Banh Mi will forever remind me of that part of 2020 when we were still free to travel and enjoy other countries, meet new people, explore their culture and food. I am thankful for I was able to do this trip and I hope we will all soon be able to start new adventures again.

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  1. start with pickled carrots and daikon radish as this needs a lot of time!

  2. continue with marinating the beef

  3. relax

  4. get all the “remaining ingredients” ready on the table

  5. cook the meat

  6. put your baguettes in the oven for a while so they are nicely warm and crispy

  7. put everything you love into your Banh Mi

  8. ENJOY

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PS: Do not forget to check out more photos in the GALLERY.

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Pickled Carrots & Daikon Radish - Đồ Chua

 

  • 2 carrots

  • ½ daikon radish

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1,5 tablespoon sugar

  • 250 ml warm water

  • 150 ml rice or apple cider vinegar

 

  1. Cut washed and peeled carrots and daikon radish to long thin slices/juliene - ideally use a julienne slicer or a good veggie shredder.

  2. Put the same amount of carrot and daikon radish into the bowl and add salt.

  3. Massage the salt into the vegetables for around 2 minutes - till the texture is softened = the sticks do not break when you bend them.

  4. Wash the vegetables with water and let them drain a bit.

  5. Move vegetables to the glass jar/s.

  6. In a small bowl put together warm water, sugar and vinegar, whisk until the sugar dissolves, then pour over the veggies.

  7. Put the lid/s on the jar/s and keep in fridge for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.

  8. I read online you can store these in the fridge for 14 days, but I always ate mine within max. 5 day so can not confirm this :))

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Lemongrass Beef

 

  • 400 g of beef - rib eye/flank/sirloin (I used rib eye)

  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh lemongrass

  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger

  • 3 cloves chopped garlic

  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce

  • 4 teaspoons rice vinegar

  • 4 teaspoons sunflower oil

  • 2 teaspoons honey

  • a pinch of salt and chili powder

  • some extra sunflower oil for cooking the beef

 

Note: well, I thought I needed to cut the meat before marinating, but then I realized, I should only cut it once cooked... too late… ”maybe next time, my friend” as Moroccans use to say. So for now, I will share my “fail” as it was extremely delicious anyway and maybe one day I will manage to do it the right way :D

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  1. Cut the beef into thin slices, put into a zipper plastic bag or a bowl with a tight fitting lid.

  2. Put all the other ingredients together in a bowl, whisk until you get a consistent marinade.

  3. Pour the marinade over the beef, massage with your hands, remove the air from the bag.

  4. Keep in the fridge for at least two hours (the longer the better - up to overnight).

  5. Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking, keep in room temperature.

  6. When ready to cook, move your meat out from the marinade and dry it gently with a paper towel - this is to remove extensive marinade so that it does not burn on the pan.

  7. Put the pan with some oil on a high heat.

  8. Once the oil is hot enough, put the beef slices in, not all at once, just to cover the pan in one layer - once it is covered, you can start turning around the first meats slices as they are thin, they do not need much longer to be perfectly cooked.

  9. Repeat until all the meat is cooked, keep warm in a food container.

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Vietnamese Banh Mi Baguette with Lemongrass Beef

 

Remaining Ingredients

 

  • 4 white baguette rolls (19 cm/90g) 

  • 4 tablespoons mayonnaise

  • 4 tablespoons pâté

  • 1 cucumber (thinly sliced)

  • pickled carrots and daikon radish

  • fresh cilantro

  • fresh chili - optional

 

  • plus already prepared - 400 g lemongrass beef 

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  1. Cut your baguettes lengthwise into halves and put them into the oven to warm them up a bit.

  2. Rmove the inside part of the baguettes so that there is more space for the fillings - do it carefully so that you do not break the baguettes.

  3. Put some pate on one half (I prefer the lower one), some mayo on the other half of the baguette.

  4. Continue on the lower half - cucumbers slices, lemongrass beef, pickles, cilantro, chili.

  5. Close your baguette, if you can, aaaand enjoy your Banh Mi :)

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