Good Eats: Banh Mi

By: Nhan Phan

There is one cooking technique that lies at the heart of Vietnamese cuisine. You might know it as “braising” or “stewing,” but we Vietnamese people call it “kho.” The word “kho” comes from the Khmer word “khor,” both have the same meaning. Kho is a cooking technique mainly found in Vietnamese and Cambodian cuisine. As my dad says, “If you don’t know how to ‘kho’ correctly, then you don’t know the true essence of what Vietnamese food really is.” After several cooks, I realized that he was right. The majority of Vietnamese cuisine revolves around several main ingredients: fish sauce, sugar, and pepper. Without those ingredients, Vietnamese food would be bland and, honestly, tasteless. These ingredients, therefore, form the basis of the “kho”-ing process.

Another dish that you have probably had or heard of is called “Banh Mi.” With proper Vietnamese punctuation, it would be written as “bánh mì.” The word itself means bread; if you split the word apart, it would mean “wheat cake,” which is essentially what bread is: a wheat cake. We have to credit the French for the creation of this street-food-esque dish. In the mid-19th century, the French introduced the baguette to Vietnam; it quickly became a staple food several years after. In 1950, the term “bánh mì Sài Gòn” or Saigon’s Banh Mi was coined because it was speculated that the dish became popular in Saigon, also known as Ho Chi Minh City in today’s terms. Now, Banh Mi has become a global sensation; so popular, in fact, that I had to make this dish here.

Putting braising and Banh Mi together, you will get this recipe: braised pork belly Banh Mi. It combines two of Vietnam’s most popular and integral cultural food components. There are other varieties of Banh Mi, but the contrast of sweet and salty in this Banh Mi is what makes it such a good eat. It doesn’t take as long to make as other complex Vietnamese dishes, such as Phở, so giving it a try is always worth it. 

Recipe for Banh Mi

Ingredients for Banh Mi

Baguette/Bread Loaf (split into 3 sections)

Cucumber (sliced)

Green Onions/Chives (chopped)

Eggs

Chả lụa or mu yo

Coriander/cilantro leaves

Beef liver pate

Pork belly or thịt ba rọi

Pork tenderloin or thịt thăn 

Red onions

Sugar

Salt/fish sauce

MSG (monosodium glutamate)

Mayonnaise

Butter

Cooking oil

Pepper

Ingredients for Pickled Vegetables

Rice Vinegar

Water

White sugar

Carrots (cut into matchsticks)

Daikon radish (cut into matchsticks)

White Onion (sliced)

Condiments

Soy sauce

Sugar

Lemon

Equipment:

Knife

Scissors

1 Large Pot

Procedure

Stage 1: Preparing the Meat

1. Prepare the pork belly and tenderloin. Make sure the pork belly and the tenderloin are slightly frozen/hardened before prep.

2. Split the pork belly into small vertical strips. Skin-side down, slice the pork belly into thin slices. The pork belly will be mainly used to create the sauce. (Fig. 1 and 2)

3. In the meantime, boil the eggs until they are hard-boiled. Boil for around 7-9 minutes. 

4. Now, we will marinate the pork belly. We will start by creating simple caramel. Put a spoonful of sugar into the pot and constantly swirl. Afterward, slowly and carefully add a splash of water. Be careful as it can splash and cause burns. When the caramel reaches a dark color, turn off the heat.

5. Prepare MSG, red onions, fish sauce/salt, sugar, grounded pepper, and a little bit of cooking oil. Thinly chop up the red onions, creating almost a paste-like consistency. Put the sliced-up pork belly along with the aforementioned ingredients into the same pot as the caramel and stir until everything is thoroughly mixed. (Fig. 3)

Stage 2: Braising the Meat

1. Before you begin braising, make sure you have all other ingredients out and prepared.

2. To start braising, put your pot of pork on the stove, add water so that it just about submerges all of your meat. This will also be used as your sauce, so add more if needed. The water will evaporate during cooking. 

3. Afterward, boil the pot. Wait until it boils rapidly, then immediately turn down the heat and put the pot to simmer. Leave the pot to simmer for 40 minutes. In the meantime, begin to prepare your tenderloin. If your pot is beginning to dry up, add more water. (Fig. 4)

4. Wash your tenderloin and when your pot begins to simmer, put the whole slab right into the pot in the middle. If the slab of tenderloin is big, split the piece. Leave the tenderloin in the pot for 15-17 minutes. Cooking time depends on the size and the temperature of the tenderloin.

5. Unpeel the hard-boiled eggs and place them in the pot for 2-3 minutes until the egg gets brown on the outside.

Stage 3: Veggies and Components

1. Prep the veggies: green onions, cucumber, onions, etc. Slice them into long thin slices, matching the width of the slice of banh mi.

2. For the ma yo, do the same. Slice them into long thin slices.

3. Layout all of the sliced-up components into the plate(s) for assembly later.

4. Take the tenderloin out, put it in the freezer for 10 minutes for it to harden. After 10 minutes, take out and slice thinly. 

5. Melt a small slab of butter, prepare your mayonnaise. (Fig. 5)

Stage 4: Assembly

1. Put the bread in the oven for 3-4 minutes for it to warm and crispen. 

2. Afterward, cut the bread halfway open and split it out.

3. Firstly, spread melted butter and mayonnaise on your bread. Then, drizzle some of your braising sauce onto the bread for flavor. Then, spread the beef liver pate. 

4. Secondly, place several pieces of pork belly, several slices of egg, as well as several slices of tenderloin onto the two sides of the bread. 

5. Add cucumber and sliced onions as you see fit. 

6. Using a chopstick, hold the bread in your hand and place the chopstick in the middle of the bread and curl your hand to tighten the Banh Mi.

7. You are all set to go!

Optional: Sauces and Condiment

1. Mix soy sauce, a splash of lemon, and sugar. You just created sour-sweet soy sauce. It can be a good dipping sauce too!

2. To make pickled vegetables as a condiment, place rice vinegar, water, and sugar into a saucepan over medium heat, bring to a boil, and stir until the sugar has dissolved about 1 minute. Allow the mixture to cool.

3. Slice carrots, radish, and the onion into thin long slices.

4. Pour the cooled vinegar mixture over the carrot, radish, and onion in a bowl or jar, and allow to stand for at least half an hour (do this before you start braising your pork belly!). Drain off the excess vinegar mixture after the vegetables have marinated.