Banh Mi with Grilled Pork

I still remember the taste of Banh Mi when I went to Vietnam for the first time – we bought them from a street vendor, and it was delicious! This is great for breakfast, but you can also make it for lunch. Make sure you squeeze a good amount of sriracha (chili sauce) if you like a bit of kick – when I make this at home, it disappears very quickly! If you are not a pork fan, you can substitute this with thinly sliced beef, chicken or firm tofu! You can prepare the pickles the night before.

Makes:            2 large baguettes (approx 20cm each)

Preparation: 15 minutes + marination for up to 2 hours

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

Grilled pork:

200g pork loin – thinly sliced

2 Tbsp fish sauce

1 Tbsp brown sugar

2 cloves of garlic

3 spring onion, crossly chopped

2 tsp sweet ABC sauce

Freshly ground black pepper

Pickles:

1/4 (30g) small carrots, julienned

60g daikon, julienned

Few slices of fresh red chilli (optional)

3 Tbsp Vinegar

3 Tbsp water

2 Tbsp white sugar

1 tsp salt

2 French baguettes

2 handful of fresh coriander

1 Lebanese cucumber, sliced diagonally

Sriracha (chili sauce)

Mayonnaise

Method: 

1. Place fish sauce, brown sugar, garlic, spring onion, sweet ABC sauce and pepper in a food processor and blitz all the ingredients. Alternatively, you can chop garlic and spring onion finely and mix in with the rest of the ingredients. Marinate sliced pork for up to 2 hours in the fridge. 
2. While we are marinating the pork, let’s make pickles! Put vinegar, water, white sugar and salt in a glass bowl and mix well until the sugar dissolves. Alternatively, to shorten the process, you can microwave for 30 seconds and mix well until the sugar dissolves. Place carrots, daikon and chilli in a bowl or glass jar and pickle it for up to 1 hour.
3. Place a grill pan over a high heat or frying pan with a little oil over a high heat. Cook marinated pork slices until they are cooked though (2-3 mins on each side) and remove from heat. Set aside. 
4. Let’s assemble the Banh Mi! Slice the baguette from the side and spread on a generous amount of mayonnaise. Place the pork, cucumber, pickled vegetables (make sure you squeeze liquid out of it!) and fresh coriander inside the baguette. Spread some sriracha sauce on top and serve! Yummy!