The Secret to the Best Homemade Banh Mi Sandwich (Made from Scratch)

Colonization is not tight, however in the case of Vietnam, a food-history-curious guy, such as myself, cannot overlook the cross-cultural delicacies French occupation brought to the country. Without the co-mingling of the Vietnamese and French people, we likely wouldn’t have pho or banh mi. Crazy.

I LOVE BANH MI! What’s not to love, really? You have your delicate crunch and ultimate fluffiness from the Vietnamese baguette (much different than the French variety), a super flavorful main filling (in our case gorgeous Lemongrass chicken), crunchy aromatic vegetables and tangy, semi-sweet pickles AND NOT TO MENTION the rich, depth from a well-made pate. 🤘🏼Adam

Workflow Example (Can be done in 1 day)...

1. Make Bread, let rest 30 minutes to an hour.

2. Marinade chicken and chill in fridge until ready to cook.

3. Make chicken liver mousse. Let chill in fridge.

4. Cut all vegetables (cucumber, jals, carrots, daikon), make pickling liquid for quick pickles.

5. Shape baguettes, let rest another 30 minutes to an hour on tray. Preheat oven to 500F.

6. Cook marinated chicken, chop into pieces, set aside with other prepped vegetables.

7. Bake Baguettes, remove from oven and let rest for 20 minutes before slicing.

8. Build sandwich.

Stuff I Use...

Chinese 5-spice Powder

Yield: Varies

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Really Good Banh Mi

Ingredients

Vietnamese Baguette

• 500g Bread Flour
• 5g Instant Yeast
• 4g Sugar
• 8g Kosher Salt
• 345g Cold Water

5-Spice Chicken Pate

• 1/2 pound Chicken Liver
• 1/2 Yellow Onion, sliced thin
• 1 Garlic Clove, peeled and smashed
• 1 tsp Chinese 5-Spice Powder
• 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
• 1/2 cup Water
• 1 1/2 sticks Unsalted Butter, room temperature and cut into 1/2 inch cubes.
• 2 tsp Shaoxing Cooking Wine
• Black Pepper, to taste

Daikon and Carrot Pickles

• 1 1/2 cups White Vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1 pound Carrot, Ribbons
• 1 pound Diakon, julienned

Lemongrass Chicken

• 1 pound Boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1 stalk lemongrass, peeled and chopped fine
• 2 Garlic Cloves, minced
• 2 Tbsp Lime Juice
• 2 Tbsp Fish sauce
• 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
• 2 Tbsp Dark Brown Sugar

Instructions

Vietnamese Baguette

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the bread flour, instant yeast, sugar and salt until homogenized. Pour in the cold water and mix with the paddle attachment for 1 minute. Replace the paddle attachment with the dough hook and knead for 10-20 minutes, until the dough passes the stretch test.
2. Remove the dough from the mixer, shape it into a ball. Plop the dough into a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rest until doubled in size for 30 minutes to an hour.
3. Grease your hands, then dump the dough out of the bowl onto a lightly greased work surface. Shape the dough into a large, 1 inch thick puck. Cut the dough like a pizza into 4 equal wedge-shaped triangular pieces like a pizza (280g each).
4. Flatten the dough by hand, then roll from the top point down to the base of the triangle. Roll and press the dough down by the ends making sure to keep the middle fatter than the ends. Pinch the ends to seal, then continue rolling until smooth.
5. Transfer the shaped baguettes to a baking tray lined with parchment, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes to an hour until doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 500F, make sure it’s preheated for at least 30 minutes before baking.
6. Spray the baguettes with water, then make a long, deep slash running the length of the baguette. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. At the 12 minute mark, open the oven and spray the baguettes with water, then close the oven. At the 9 minute mark, open the oven and spray the baguettes with water again, rotate the baking sheets, then close the oven. At the 6 minute mark, spray again, then finally with 3 minutes remaining spray a final time. You will have baked a total of 15 minutes, and sprayed the baguettes 5 times. Be liberal with the water.
7. Remove the baguettes from the oven and let cool completely on the baking sheets. The resulting loaf should be light, crispy, moist and cottony on the inside.

5-Spice Chicken Pate

1. Add the chicken livers, onion, garlic, salt and water to a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce the heat to low and cook until the chicken livers are barely pink on the inside, 2-3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool with the cover on for 5-10 minutes.
2. Strain the mixture and add the chicken livers, onion and garlic to a food processor. Process the ingredients until pureed. Add the wine, 5 spice and a few cracks of black pepper and purée until smooth again. With the machine running, add the tempered butter one cube at a time until emulsified into the liver mixture.
3. Transfer to ramekins or a sealable container and refrigerate until solid. Serve chilled and spread on Vietnamese baguettes.

Daikon and Carrot Pickles

1. Add the vinegar and water to a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the sugar and salt until dissolved. Remove from heat and pour over the carrot and daikon. Store covered in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.

Lemongrass Chicken

1. Combine all the ingredients in a bag and let marinate in the fridge for 12-24 hours.
2. Remove chicken from the bag, pat dry, shake off veg chunks and sear in a pan with some oil on both sides. Add a dash of the marinade to the pan, cover and cook on the stovetop until finished.
3. Let cool slightly, chop up into pieces, set aside for sandwich.

Build the Sandwich

1. Hollow out baguette, spread thin pate on top of baguette, then pile in some lemongrass chicken. Top with cucumber, daikon and carrot pickles, jalapeno and cilantro. Close sandwich and munch as is or cut it in half.

EXAMPLE WORKFLOW

1. Make bread, let rest 30 minutes to an hour or until doubled in size.
2. While the bread rises, make marinade and let chicken marinate for at least an hour. Make chicken liver pate, let chill and solidify in fridge. Cut all vegetables (cucumber, jals, carrots, daikon), make pickling liquid for quick pickles and submerge carrots and daikon.
3. Shape baguettes, let rest another 30 minutes to an hour on tray, or until doubled in size. Preheat oven to 500F for at least 30 minutes.
4. While the shaped bread proofs and the oven preheats, cook the marinated chicken, chop into pieces and set aside.
5. Bake baguettes, remove from oven and let rest for 20 minutes before opening. Ready all other prepped ingredients to build the sandwich.
6. Build sandwich. Remove chunk of insides of dough, add lemongrass chicken, cucumber, pickles, jals and cilantro. Spread pate on top, then close the sandwich. Optionally cut in half and MUNCH HARD.

Adam's Notes

• The baguette recipe makes enough for 4 medium (or 2 large) baguettes.
• As usual, I’ve provided grams for the bread component of the sandwich for accuracy.
• French Baguettes and Vietnamese baguettes are different.
• Chinese 5-spice powder consists of star anise, fennel, Szechuan peppercorns, cinnamon and cloves. If you’d like, you can make your own blend, but the mixture is widely available in many American grocery stores.
• “Bread Improver” is a chemical dough relaxant that allows bread to stay malleable without having to rest it as long or at all. I spoke with a few professional bakers who said that Bread Improver is not necessary and only helpful when baking on a commercial scale. I did a side by side comparison and I couldn’t tell a difference in taste with or without the improver so… leave it out. There’s no reason to worry about it here.

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