Making Banh Mi

My favorite bánh mì place, Baoguette, is no more, so I have been on the hunt for a good replacement. So far I have not found it. (By the way, banh mi has added to The Oxford English Dictionary a couple of years ago, without accents, so hereafter I have dropped the accents.)

Coincidentally, I found out about a book by Andrea Nguyen, The Banh Mi Handbook, which tells you everything you want to know about banh mi, including recipes for each element -- bread, pickles, cold cuts, mayonnaise, meat and sauce. Armed with this book, I set out to make a great banh mi, and the results were pretty great, even though I only made some of the elements and bought the others.

Classic banh mi

This banh mi consists (in order) of (i) a baguette from Epicerie Boulud, (ii) mayo, (iii) Maggi sauce (yes, the Vietnamese use it all the time), (iv) pork liver pâté, (v) mortadella, (vi) Nguyen's excellent poached garlic pepper pork tenderloin, (vii) her daikon and carrot pickles, (viii) cucumber slices, (ix) jalapeno slices and (x) a little sriratcha. The blending of hot, salty, sweet (the rub for the pork), sour and umami (Maggi sauce) is what Vietnamese food is all about.

As is often the case, I did my experimenting while J was out of town, and so waited for her return to amp my banh mi up to the next level, substituting Nguyen's crispy roasted pork belly for the poached garlic pepper pork tenderloin. This is made with similar spices (five-spice, pepper, brown sugar, salt, soy sauce) but the richness of the pork belly, which is dried in the fridge for a couple of days before roasting and broiling, elevates the banh mi considerably.

Crispy roasted pork belly

Nguyen's book contains recipes for banh mi with chicken and fish for those who don't like pork or just want a lighter version. I plan to get to some of these, as well as her banh mi rolls, in due course.

Bobby Jay

Momofuku Bo Ssam - Amazing Slow Cooked Pork

No wings for this year's Superbowl. Instead I made Momofuku Bo Ssam, David Chang's take on slow cooked pork, served with Korean dipping sauces and kimchee.

This recipe appeared in The New York Times a couple of weeks ago, and is totally simple to make. You just (1) rub the pork with a mixture of white sugar and Kosher salt, (2) let it sit overnight, (3) cook it at 300 for 6 hours or until it collapses, (4) let it sit for up to an hours, (5) rub with brown sugar and a little salt and cook at 500 for 15 minutes. Then serve it in a lettuce wrap with a little kimchee, a bit of rice, ginger/scallion sauce, and a drop of hot sauce made of Korean miso and chili paste. The only ingredients that are hard to find are the Korean bean paste (ssamjang) and chili paste (kochujang), but you can use any Asian hot sauce you like if these are not available.

I had plenty of leftovers and made a deconstructed version in salad form. Reheated the pork slowly, placed over chopped romaine lettuce and rice, then added kimchee and the ginger/scallion sauce as dressing, passing the hot chili sauce separately. An excellent salad, maintaining the balance of the original dish but with a different texture.

Bo Ssam Salad

Although the recipe calls for a bone-in shoulder weighing 8-10 pounds, I used a 3-3/4-pound boneless shoulder, so the 6-hour cooking time worked out to less than 4 hours. The meat was Berkshire pork acquired at Heritage Farms USA's shop at the Essex Market: marbled with lots of fat that melted off in the slow cooking process, which resulted in a particularly tasty and unctuous dish.

Bobby Jay

Paris - Bánh Mì

Writing the last post, on the return of Baoguette, reminded me that Clotilde Dusoulier, in her excellent blog Chocolate & Zucchini, had recommended a bánh mì place in Paris that I have been intending to try: Saigon Sandwich. Well, it really is good. Imagine a well-constructed bánh mì sandwich - pork pâté, roast pork, cucumber, shredded pickled carrots and radishes, cilantro, homemade mayonnaise and hot peppers - and imagine further that it's on a really fresh French baguette. Yes, you are in heaven. They also have a chicken bánh mì that is even better, or you can get the classic pork with chicken added.

Actually, I think the pork fillings at New York's Baoguette are better, but the great bread more than makes up for it.

I have to hand it to Clotilde: she is no snob. Saigon Sandwich is in a really terrible neighborhood, around the corner from the Belleville Métro station, and the sidewalks are so crowded with immigrants selling used clothes that you need to walk in the street. There are three folding chairs in the restaurant so you can eat on your lap, right next to the line of waiting patrons, if you don't want to take out. Having fully intended to eat sur place, I decided to enjoy my lunch at home.

Saigon Sandwich, 6 rue de la Présentation, Paris 11ème (Métro Belleville) (closed Sundays).

Bobby Jay

Baoguette Returns

I recently reported that Baoguette, 61 Lexington Avenue, had been closed by the Health Department. A trusted reader reports that it has reopened, with a provisional rating and lots of happy eaters.

In the absence of Baoguette, I have tried Nicky's, 150 East 2nd Street, a charming deli-like place, with three little tables for the few customers who eat in. The classic bánh mì is good (but not as good as Baoguette's), and they have other bánh mì sandwiches, including a tofu one that I plan to try next time I'm in the neighborhood.

Also, I went to Num Pang, a very popular Cambodian sandwich shop at 21 East 8th Street. The specialty, pork belly sandwich, is flavorful, but does not have the complex layers of hot, sour, sweet, salty and bitter that one finds in a good bánh mì. Also, the eating area, upstairs, is really pretty bad, even by my relaxed standards for this type of place.

I am continuing to make the rounds, but look forward to returning to Baoguette when I get back to the USA. I hope they can get their Health Department rating up to "A."

Bobby Jay

Baoguette Closed by Health Department

I went to Baoguette, 61 Lexington Avenue, the other day, only to find that it has been closed by the NYC Department of Health!

Need to find another bánh mì source. I am now headed to Battle of the Bánh Mì to seek suggestions from the on-line community of bánh mì lovers.

Bobby Jay

Wonderful Vietnamese Sandwiches -- Bánh Mì

Baoguette's bánh mì

There have been a number of articles recently, including a major spread in the New York Times, extolling the virtues of, bánh mì, Vietnamese pork sandwiches served on a baguette. While it has been reported that they were invented by Vietnamese immigrants to the US for local consumption, one of my readers (see comments below) informs me that this is false; in fact they existed in Vietnam and were brought to the US by immigrants after the war.

In response to the publicity, my friend Piglet and I went to one of the best bánh mì places, Baoguette, at 61 Lexington Avenue (between 25th and 26th Streets), which has received awards from New York Magazine and Time Out New York. Our conclusion: the fuss is justified. Five dollars will buy you a sandwich consisting of pork, pork pate, pork terrine and pickled vegetables (including daikon and carrots) and cilantro with hot (or less hot) sauce. The flavors are just sensational! On a subsequent visit I tried a similar sandwich, but made with chicken; excellent, but doesn't match the layered complexity of the pork version. There is also a beef version (Sloppy Bao) which I have't tried. Baoguette also has branches at 37 St. Mark's Place and 120 Christopher Street.

There are other places to find bánh mì, and I hope to try as many of them as possible. Click more for the list compiled by the New York Times.

Bobby Jay

More...
AN CHOI 85 Orchard Street (Broome Street); (212) 226-3700.
BANH MI SAIGON BAKERY 138 Mott Street (Grand Street); (212) 941-1541.
BAOGUETTE 61 Lexington Avenue (25th Street); (212) 518-4089.
BAOGUETTE CAFE 37 St. Marks Place (Second Avenue); (347) 892-2614.
BA XUYEN 4222 Eighth Avenue (42nd Street), Sunset Park, Brooklyn; (718) 633-6601.
NHA TOI 160 Havemeyer Street (South Second Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn; (718) 599-1820.
NUM PANG 21 East 12th Street (University Place); (212) 255-3271.
PARIS SANDWICH BAKERY CAFE 113 Mott Street (Hester Street); (212) 226-7221.
SAU VOI CORP. 101 Lafayette Street (Walker Street); (212) 226-8184.
SILENT H 79 Berry Street (North Ninth Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn; (718) 218-7063.
THANH DA I 6008 Seventh Avenue (60th Street), Sunset Park, Brooklyn; (718) 492-3253.
THANH DA II 5624B Eighth Avenue (56th Street), Sunset Park, Brooklyn; (718) 492-3760.